From Nicki Minaj’s Pivot To JD Vance’s Dog Whistles

Culture wars don’t just trend, they shape how power moves. We dig into a week where celebrity influence and political spin collided: Nicki Minaj’s embrace of a hard-right stage that actively undermines Black and LGBTQ communities, JD Vance’s “stop apologizing for being white” applause line, and a devastating Hollywood family tragedy that shows how money can’t mend untreated pain. The connective tissue is influence and accountability, who wields it, who gets harmed, and what it takes to repair trust.

I talk through Nicki’s long relationship with the fans who fueled her rise and why this sharp pivot feels like betrayal, not evolution. We revisit the pattern of courting crossover success, then denouncing it when backlash hits, and the choice to praise figures who’ve mocked the very people who once championed her. Accountability isn’t about punishing art; it’s about honoring the communities that built the stage in the first place. When leaders double down instead of showing contrition, they tell us exactly where their loyalties lie.

Then we break down JD Vance’s soundbite as a classic dog whistle,  confusing empathy with guilt and reframing equity as persecution. No one asked for apologies for being white; people asked for fairness, accurate history, and equal protection. That nuance gets lost because outrage is more clickable than honesty. Finally, we turn to the Nick Reiner case to confront the limits of wealth against addiction and mental illness. Allowances, access, and best intentions can still enable dysfunction without structure, evidence‑based treatment, and boundaries. The lesson is hard but necessary: resources matter, but accountability and care plans matter more.

If this conversation sparks a reaction, good —add your voice. Follow the show, share the episode with a friend who cares about culture and truth, and leave a review with your take. Your perspective helps shape where we go next.

Watch the video of this podcast HERE.

Episode Transcript

Corey Andrew (00:01):
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Core Issues
Podcast.
Core Issues with Corey Andrew.
That's me.
I am Corey Andrew.
And today we are diving into afew topics.
But first, Merry Christmas.
It is Christmas today.
And now normally I have on abow tie, but I took the bow tie
off today because it's more of acasual, fun celebratory day.
So I loosened up the tie alittle bit by removing it

(00:23):
actually.
And um, it's just gonna be ashow today where I'm gonna cover
a few topics that I've beentrying to get to all week.
But of course, as you know,when you're counting down to the
holidays, you're so busy withfamily and shopping and all that
good stuff that it's verydifficult to find the time to
record and edit these podcastsum accordingly.
But I've made the time today onChristmas, so I'm gonna be

(00:45):
spending that with you.
And for those of you who willhear the podcast after today,
well, I hope you had a goodholiday.
I hope you had a MerryChristmas.
And for those of you who arelistening today, Merry Christmas
to you.
Now, the topics today I'm gonnabe getting to.
Um, they are some of the mostincendiary topics of the past

(01:07):
week or so in the news on socialmedia, and that would be the
debacle of Nicki Minaj, theridiculous rhetoric of JD Vance,
and I do mean ridiculous, andum a sad update, of course, on
the Nick Reiner story.
Of course, that's Nick Reiner,the son of Rob Reiner and
Michelle Reiner, who sadly is incustody for um ending his

(01:28):
parents' lives.
So that's a bit of a anongoing, very, very sad story uh
from Hollywood.
But let's begin with NickiMinaj.
Let me just first start sayingthat um I've never been a real
true Nick uh Nicki Minaj fanpersonally, because I'm just

(01:50):
ride or die with Lil Kim.
Like that's just me, right?
That's just uh I'm that guygoing back with Lil Kim.
So that's my girl.
And uh Nikki always has seemeda bit like a reductive version
of Lil Kim.
But before I get into why I'mnot really shocked about Nikki's
flip-flopping here and hersocial issues, is I found her

(02:10):
disingenuous a few times when inthe past she's done some really
big commercial pop records,right?
She broke from the whole rapgame that she was known for, and
she did these big pop records,like with David Getta and, you
know, the um Starships and allthat.
And it was a big switch fromher bad girl rap persona.

(02:31):
And they were massive hits.
Put her on the stage globallyas a pop artist, which is where
the money really gets big,right?
For you when you are in thatspace as an artist.
And instead of embracing it,what she did was she began to
denounce it when a lot of herfans were pushing back, saying,
like, oh, this is corny, you'remaking that white girl music and

(02:51):
da-da-da-da.
And so she began to hear thatfrom her base, and then she
denounced it.
You know, I'm never gonna dothat kind of stuff again.
And I'm, you know, that's notwho I am.
I'm not gonna go into thatspace again and do that pop
stuff.
And I found that to bedisingenuous because when you're
an artist, you experiment withdifferent sounds
unapologetically.
I mean, look at someone as bigas Madonna or even Janet.

(03:15):
Um, they've done all kinds ofgenres and did not apologize
because one demographic in theiraudience didn't like it or not.
So I first thought there wassomething odd about her when she
did that.
You know, you you support whatyou do as an artist, you don't
apologize for it and thendenounce it, especially after
you've made a lot of money, asshe did with those songs.

(03:37):
So that said, uh, this latestsituation with her, you know,
she was once a beacon ofempowerment for black women
specifically, but for blackpeople, LGBTQ plus and trans
communities.
And she's even performed at gaypride events.
She's been a judge on RuPaul'sdrag race, worked with many
LGBTQ stylists and makeup teamsfor years, and all of that has

(04:01):
elevated her in thatdemographic, in those
demographics, as one of herbiggest supporters who helped
build her up to who she istoday.
But she's recently, as you allknow, taken up a sharp turn, uh,
no pun intended there, uh, whenshe showed up at this turning
point rally and began to, well,not even dip her toe in.

(04:22):
She just dove right into themurky waters of right-wing
ideology.
So it was her appearance at theturning point conference where
she made anti-trans comments andshe urged black women to be
nicer to white women, whichreally left many of us
questioning what that was allabout, and also questioning her
loyalty to those who supportedher from the start.

(04:42):
All right, so let's unpack whatis perceived as a major
betrayal by her fans.
So, first off, Nikki, you know,you built your empire on the
backs of the very people you arenow distancing yourself from.
Your music resonated with blackwomen, like I said, the LGBTQ
fans and those who feltmarginalized in general.
She became an uh an icon forthem, a hero for them.

(05:06):
So we're just wondering how youcan stand before a crowd that
literally espouses hatred anddivision against all those very
groups, especially when thosegroups are the ones your rooted
success is such a prominent uhplace in uh those in the in the
world of those demographics.

(05:26):
So this begs the question, youknow, what happened?
What happened to the NickiMinaj who championed the rights
of the oppressed and the Nikkiwho performed at the pride
events, the Nikki who actuallywarned men in a crowd at one of
her shows.
You can look it up.
She warned the men not to endup marrying someone like
Melania.
This is from her quote.

(05:47):
Now, whatever that means, Idon't know what she meant by
that, but it does not soundpositive.
It does not sound like thepeople you want to align
yourself with.
But yet here she is aligningherself with Melania and an
administration that is intentlyerasing black and LGBTQ history.
It's an admin that is literallydemanding that museums remove

(06:09):
artifacts of African Americanhistory that speak to the
African American experience andcontributions in this country.
They're removing uh veterans'names, like gay veterans' names,
like Harvey Milk, for example,uh, off of military vessels or
bases or anything that honor gayservice members who have, in

(06:29):
Harvey's case, he was slainthrough a hate crime.
And this is not just apolitical stance when you align
yourself with someone like that.
Okay, it's a dangerous game oferasure that you are
participating in.
And it's particularly egregiouswhen you are a black woman and

(06:52):
you seemingly are siding withthe oppressor of black women.
So when I think of HarrietTubman in these moments, I
sometimes think about, you know,we make the joke about the ones
that Harriet would have leftbehind or should have left
behind.
And I thought about this as aninteresting segment for the
show, you know, the ones Harrietshould have left behind.

(07:14):
Because Nikki's recentstatements suggest that she
might be the first honorablemention of this segment of the
show, because she is clearlyspeaking against, being very
antithetical to the struggles ofthose who fought for her right
to actually speak, live, andthrive and be an artist as a
black woman, a black woman inAmerica.

(07:36):
And here she is completelygoing against all those things,
harming that very, verycommunity.
So let's call it what it is.
You know, it's betrayal formany people.
And while some seek to excuseher actions, I say it's time you
hold people accountable, right?
It's not enough just tooverlook the people that we love
in music and their harmfulrhetoric just because we love

(07:59):
their pink wigs and we lovetheir videos and we love, you
know, their fashion choices.
You know, they're they cancause real damage with their
words and with the messagingthat they use uh that they
espouse on their platforms,which is a huge platform in
Nicki Minaj's case.
Now, as you all know,apparently she reportedly
deleted her Instagram account.

(08:20):
We don't know if she actuallydeleted it or not, but the the
word is that she deleted herInstagram account after losing
10 million followers because ofher alignment with the turning
point organization and EricaKirk, who's the widow of Charlie
Kirk.
And what's so crazy about thatis Charlie Kirk himself, there

(08:41):
are clips online of Charlie Kirkhimself literally denouncing
Nicki Minaj in the mostreductive ways, declaring her to
be the worst example of a rolemodel for black women and really
just saying that she's beneaththe idea of being someone who
should be looked up to by blackwomen.
Uh, he's very clear that he didnot care for Nicki Minaj in any

(09:04):
way.
And here she is now grifting onstage with his widow, praising
Charlie Kirk's divisiveposition.
So it's very strange.
Uh, some people are speculatingthat she is attempting to get
pardons for her brother and forher husband.
Both of them are uh involved invery serious sexual abuse

(09:26):
crimes.
Her brother, I believe,actually is convicted and in
prison for 25 years for havingsex with a minor.
And her husband's accused ofsexually assaulting a woman.
And Nikki is also named in thatlawsuit as well, somehow, some
way, which is kind of um anotherlayer to the story that we
won't get into today.
But that is what's going on inher world.

(09:48):
But when you dissect that,those crimes happen under state
jurisdiction.
And Donald Trump as a federal,um, on a federal level, which is
where his pardon power lies, hedoesn't have the the ability to
pardon either of thosesituations for Nikki's brother
and her husband.
So unless there's some otherpotential thing going on, I I've

(10:14):
heard something about herfather, maybe, but her father
passed away, as far as Ithought.
So I don't think he's an issue.
Um, so I don't know what thisis all about, what's going on
with why she's taken thisposition.
But in any event, what I doknow is that it's vital that we
speak out against our uh thethose who seem to want to harm

(10:37):
us.
We have to speak out againstharmful ideologies, no matter
the source, no matter how muchwe love them.
I love Madonna, and I calledher out countless times when
she's done silly things, notablywhen she used the N-word once
in a uh text.
You know, she's getting toocomfortable.
Yeah, I know you got blackkids, girl, but you you still
the N-word, I know it's trickyand all that, but you we don't

(11:00):
drop the N-word if you're notblack.
And I don't even reallysanction it when black people do
it, but it's just one of thosethings that if you're not black,
you really better not do it.
So Madonna learned that thehard way.
But I, you know, I and other ofher fans dragged her for that.
We still love her, but sheapologized as well.
She also said, I get it.

(11:21):
I I had no right to do that.
I'm sorry, and I should haveknown better.
That's called contrition.
You don't get that from NikkiMinaj right now.
She's doubling down on it.
She's doubling down on heranti-trans stance, she's
doubling down on uh the thingsshe's saying about Charlie Kirk
being someone who was admirableto be looked up to when he was
one of the most divisivepolitical figures in modern

(11:41):
history, even denouncing blackwomen.
So Nikki's choosing heralliance.
And in this case, it's turningpoint USA.
So if Nikki is listening, all Ican say is, girl, we urge you
to reflect on your influence andthe responsibility that comes
with it.
Remember who you are and whoyou represented, because the

(12:03):
descendants of the ones HarrietTubman did help get free deserve
a lot better than what you'regiving.
And that makes me wonder as wekeep the conversation going, and
I ask you all to chime in.
How do you feel about Nikki'srecent actions?
Just like, what do you thinkabout it?
And join the discussion and letme know if she were to
apologize and try to uh win backher demographic of black LGBTQ

(12:26):
audience members.
Should we accept that apology?
Do we take her back?
Or is that a no?
What do you guys think?
Drop me some comments in the uhcomment section there.
Let me know your thoughts, andI will uh comment back and share
them publicly and talk aboutthem on the air.
So next up, JD Vance.

(12:59):
You know, I posted on Facebookand Instagram recently this
comment that JD Vance, and I'mgonna grab my phone now because
I have these uh comments.
So as I speak to you, I amgoing to be uh people who are
watching the video, I'm actuallyon my phone gonna be scrolling
to try to find this comment thatI actually uh left on Facebook

(13:21):
and on Instagram, excuse me, andon Instagram that got a lot of
feedback and I loved it becauseI posed a question directly to
white people.
I did.
It was a very specificquestion.
It had to do with JD Vancebecause JD Vance was at the
turning point USA conference aswell.

(13:42):
Oh, here it is.
I got the the post because Iwant to make sure I get some of
the uh comments that I got andshare them with you.
But in my post, I said, whitepeople help me out here.
You know, I've been on thisgood earth for a long while.
I've lived through RonaldReagan, I've lived through Bill
Clinton, Obama, uh Jimmy Carter.

(14:03):
Like I've been on this earthfor a little bit.
I've lived through reality TV,um, several unnecessary revivals
of low-rise genes that seem tonever die, just keep kind of
coming back.
I mean, I've lived through alot, right?
I've seen a lot.
I've never seen or heard awhite person apologize for being
white.
So when JD Vance got on stagerecently at the Turning Point
USA rally and said, finally,white people can stop

(14:27):
apologizing for being white.
I went to the internet to askwhite people, like, when did
that happen?
You know, I don't think I'veever heard it.
Not once, not privately, notpublicly, not whispered in a
corner, not during a full moon.
Like I've never heard it.
So I was like, what do you meanby we don't have to apologize
anymore?

(14:47):
When did that start?
Because no black people I knowat all have ever asked a white
person to actually apologize forbeing white.
We didn't circulate a memo, wedidn't put it in a Google Doc,
or there was no secret meetingthat we had in which we said,
okay, on today's next agendaitem, we're gonna demand people
apologize for being white.
Like, no, that never happenedever.

(15:10):
What did happen is this we'veasked for centuries for
fairness.
We've asked for equity, we askfor equal treatment and
protections under the law.
We ask not to be criminalizedand not to be marginalized, not
to be redlined and underpaid andoverpoliced and erased.

(15:31):
And somehow asking those verysimple things seem to get
translated as you want me tofeel bad for being white.
And I want to say, no, not atall.
That is not at all what thatmeans.
But we do want to ask you tofeel somewhat responsible for
systems that are continued thatyou do benefit from at the

(15:54):
oppression of others.
That's not guilty for existing,that's asking you to be aware.
And there is a big difference,a very big difference.
And that difference getsconveniently blurred every
election cycle because outragepolls a lot better than honesty.
But when I posed that question,I got some really great
responses.

(16:14):
And um, one of my favorite wasexcuse me, um, well, I can't
read that one because it has alot of profanities.
But um someone said that it'sactually been uh in his 40 years
of existence as a white person,I have never, nor have I ever
seen or heard other white peopleapologize for being white.

(16:38):
Um, I have felt bad, however,about and held empathy for
others over things that whitepeople have done to people of
color in our countrysystemically and across the
world.
Yet I've never apologized forthat or been demanded to or
expected to apologize for thoseheinous things because I
personally did not commit them.

(16:58):
And that is exactly right.
Black people are not sayingwhite people are responsible for
the sins of their fathers, asthe quote goes.
We're asking them to be uhaware and responsible enough
that we don't repeat them.
And that is a big difference.
I want to make sure that that'sa clarity moment if anyone's
listening of what we're actuallyasking for.
And that was shared by David.
I won't say his last name, butI will put um that was just one

(17:20):
I wanted to share.
I will put a link to thisFacebook thread if you all want
to chime in and keep itrespectful because I keep my
finger on a block and deletebutton real quickly.
So no foolishness, but we'reopen to having these great
conversations because that ishow unified we will move
together.
Okay.
So statements like the one thatJD Vance made aren't about
freeing white people from shameor anything of this sort.

(17:44):
They're really about a covertoperation to activate resentment
in white people, to have themblame all that's wrong with
their lives on the others.
I will tell you one thing thatalways confuses me in this
argument.
On one hand, you hear argumentsabout, for example, the
Mexicans are taking our jobs.
And in that same breath, you'llhear the Mexicans are lazy and

(18:06):
they just want to take advantageof all of our uh opportunities
in America.
Well, both those things can'tbe true.
Someone can't be lazy and alsotrying to take your job.
So the rhetoric right there isso convoluted, we have to
understand that it's coming froma place of disingenuous uh
sentiment and there's a presencethere trying to just keep the
marginalized groups fighting sothat none of us realize that all

(18:31):
of us are actually gettingscrewed, if you will, by a
financial system that is notreally set up in our favor.
And once we realize that andreally come together, man, we
could do some really, reallygreat stuff.
But that is why this kind ofrhetoric is dangerous.
And that's why people arecalling it a dog whistle of what
JD Vann said, because it'sbeing said at a pitch, much like

(18:52):
a dog whistle.
That's not meant for every ear.
But those who are supposed toreceive it, they do.
And the reaction is anger andresentment.
So what we're asking for is wewant America to stop pretending
that certain history didn'texist and didn't happen, and
that the consequences uh theconsequences of that history

(19:14):
does not linger and still impactus today.
That's all.
So if the idea of equalfairness feels like a
punishment, then I think ourconversation um is much bigger
than apologies.
There is a deeper issue for usto address.
And that's what I'm trying todo here.
So drop your comments again,find the threads.

(19:35):
I'm gonna drop the link tothem.
And I want you to chime inagain respectfully, because I'm
trying to cultivate realconversations here that are not
divisive, that are not angry,that really maybe have the
potential to unify us and bringus all together.
And um, I would love nothingmore than to see a more unified
front against issues that arereally impacting all of us uh

(19:57):
equally, despite the fact thatthere's an attempt.
To make us think that it's theother we have to be afraid of.
Now, that said, I do have afinal thing to talk about, which
is a little bit more sad.
I will give the Naughty ButNice with Rob podcast a shout

(20:18):
out for the exclusive they brokeon the story.
And it was about Nick Reiner acouple of days ago.
And that Nick Reiner, who, aswe know, killed his or allegedly
killed his parents.
He had deep psychologicalissues.
He was a serious addict who hadsuffered many relapses in his
attempt to be sober.
He was also socially inept.

(20:39):
He had a really hard, difficulttime socially when it comes to
relationships, friendships, allthe above.
He just was a, I'm not makingexcuses for him, but in
understanding who he was, he wasjust a person that completely
felt like an alien visiting theplanet and just never could find
his way in feeling like hebelonged.
And that's unfortunately whatdrove a lot of his anguish.

(20:59):
Whatever.
But in any event, whatever.
That's not to say that heanything he did was justified.
But there was another point ofthe story that I think shocked a
lot of people.
At the time of him killing hisparents, allegedly, they were
taking care of him, giving himan allowance of $10,000 a month,

(21:22):
covering all his food, all hisexpenses, his bills.
He had health insurance and helived on the property, I guess,
like in a guest house.
So by all intents and measures,you would think, my goodness,
that's everything.
I mean, what else is there,right?
I mean, my goodness, I can'tbelieve he was in such bad shape

(21:44):
with all that money andmaterial wealth being taken care
of for him.
So the bigger part of the storythat I want to make sure we
focus on with that observationis that it proves once again
that money does not buyhappiness, does not buy
emotional stability, it does notbuy love, it does not buy any
of those things if there's adeeper disturbance happening

(22:07):
within the person, within thecore of the person.
You can throw money at thingsall day.
We've seen it happen.
And unless um the conflicts areworked out or addressed and
dealt with, then um you're justthrowing money at a bad
situation with no real aspect ofreturn to be considered.

(22:31):
It's just wasting good money.
Now I will say that, of course,the Reiners reportedly, since
Nick Reiner was a child andbecame involved in questionable
activity, they've attempted tosupport him.
They did put him in rehabmultiple times and they did try
to include him.
And so this is not in any wayto say that the parents weren't

(22:51):
doing their job, because as faras we know, they love their son,
they loved all their kids, andthey tried everything they could
to help him.
The only point I'm trying tomake is do not make the
assumption that money is theanswer to everything and to all
your problems, because this isan example of why that is
unequivocally not true.

(23:12):
And unless you work on theissues and work them out, in
fact, money could make theproblem worse in many aspects.
So just a lesson to keep inmind, and then a new development
in that story is that manyother Hollywood celebrities with
children, adult children whoare in similar situations, are

(23:34):
now worried.
They're afraid.
They may have been enablingtheir child all this time, and
now their child's an adult,still living with them, maybe,
or with deep psychologicalissues, very similar dynamic.
And they are afraid that whatif their child does this, uh
does this to them?
And so now there is this buzzaround Hollywood of many

(23:55):
Hollywood parents of troubledkids, all maybe waking up a
little bit and seeing that whatthey've been doing over the
years has not worked, and maybethey need to try something else
before another tragedy of thismagnitude happens.
We hope it doesn't, but in anyevent, um again, rest in peace
to Michelle and Rob Reiner.

(24:16):
And I hope Nick somehow getsthe psychological help he needs
because clearly uh he's got someissues to work out.
So, not the most cheerfulstories to share with you on
Christmas Day, I know, but wewill end it with a positive
note.
You know, we have gone througha lot this year, 2025, yes, but

(24:37):
2026, I always love to say thata new year is just a new
opportunity to hit the resetbutton and just look back and
reflect on all the things thatyou wanted to do last year that
you didn't do, or things youattempted to do that didn't work
out.
You get a chance to do themagain and use that knowledge of
why things didn't work out theway you thought they would.
Use that as your marketingfeedback to know how to execute

(24:58):
and attempt to do it again withbetter results.
Do not give up on those dreamsand ambitions and launch a
project you've been longing tothink of and uh longing to do,
but you haven't done it, thoughyou've been thinking of it.
And this new year, we're just acouple days away from a new
year and a new opportunity foryou to put those plans into
action and be the badass thatyou know you are.

(25:22):
So that's it.
Thanks so much for joining metoday here on this episode of
the Core Issues Podcast with me,Corey Andrew.
And of course, I also am aco-host of the Naughty But Nice
with Rob podcast on Fridays withRob Shooter, who is just uh an
awesome, wonderful source ofcelebrity news and gossip.
And he's like my mentor, myguru, and he's really been

(25:44):
awesome to me over the years.
I'm thankful for him as we lookinto a new year of 2026 of more
wonderful podcast episodes tocome.
So thank you all.
Happy holidays and happy 2026.