Core Issues with Corey Andrew

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

• Corey Andrew

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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.

Corey Andrew:

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 a few topics. But first, Merry Christmas. It is Christmas today. And now normally I have on a bow tie, but I took the bow tie off today because it's more of a casual, fun celebratory day. So I loosened up the tie a little bit by removing it actually. And um, it's just gonna be a show today where I'm gonna cover a few topics that I've been trying to get to all week. But of course, as you know, when you're counting down to the holidays, you're so busy with family and shopping and all that good stuff that it's very difficult to find the time to record and edit these podcasts um accordingly. But I've made the time today on Christmas, so I'm gonna be spending that with you. And for those of you who will hear the podcast after today, well, I hope you had a good holiday. I hope you had a Merry Christmas. And for those of you who are listening today, Merry Christmas to you. Now, the topics today I'm gonna be getting to. Um, they are some of the most incendiary topics of the past week or so in the news on social media, and that would be the debacle of Nicki Minaj, the ridiculous rhetoric of JD Vance, and I do mean ridiculous, and um 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 in custody for um ending his parents' lives. So that's a bit of a an ongoing, very, very sad story uh from Hollywood. But let's begin with Nicki Minaj. Let me just first start saying that um I've never been a real true Nick uh Nicki Minaj fan personally, because I'm just ride or die with Lil Kim. Like that's just me, right? That's just uh I'm that guy going back with Lil Kim. So that's my girl. And uh Nikki always has seemed a bit like a reductive version of Lil Kim. But before I get into why I'm not really shocked about Nikki's flip-flopping here and her social issues, is I found her disingenuous a few times when in the past she's done some really big commercial pop records, right? She broke from the whole rap game that she was known for, and she did these big pop records, like with David Getta and, you know, the um Starships and all that. And it was a big switch from her bad girl rap persona. And they were massive hits. Put her on the stage globally as a pop artist, which is where the money really gets big, right? For you when you are in that space as an artist. And instead of embracing it, what she did was she began to denounce it when a lot of her fans were pushing back, saying, like, oh, this is corny, you're making that white girl music and da-da-da-da. And so she began to hear that from her base, and then she denounced it. You know, I'm never gonna do that kind of stuff again. And I'm, you know, that's not who I am. I'm not gonna go into that space again and do that pop stuff. And I found that to be disingenuous because when you're an artist, you experiment with different sounds unapologetically. I mean, look at someone as big as Madonna or even Janet. Um, they've done all kinds of genres and did not apologize because one demographic in their audience didn't like it or not. So I first thought there was something odd about her when she did that. You know, you you support what you do as an artist, you don't apologize for it and then denounce it, especially after you've made a lot of money, as she did with those songs. So that said, uh, this latest situation with her, you know, she was once a beacon of empowerment for black women specifically, but for black people, LGBTQ plus and trans communities. And she's even performed at gay pride events. She's been a judge on RuPaul's drag race, worked with many LGBTQ stylists and makeup teams for years, and all of that has elevated her in that demographic, in those demographics, as one of her biggest supporters who helped build her up to who she is today. But she's recently, as you all know, taken up a sharp turn, uh, no pun intended there, uh, when she showed up at this turning point rally and began to, well, not even dip her toe in. She just dove right into the murky waters of right-wing ideology. So it was her appearance at the turning point conference where she made anti-trans comments and she urged black women to be nicer to white women, which really left many of us questioning what that was all about, and also questioning her loyalty to those who supported her from the start. All right, so let's unpack what is 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 are now distancing yourself from. Your music resonated with black women, like I said, the LGBTQ fans and those who felt marginalized in general. She became an uh an icon for them, a hero for them. So we're just wondering how you can stand before a crowd that literally espouses hatred and division against all those very groups, especially when those groups are the ones your rooted success is such a prominent uh place in uh those in the in the world of those demographics. So this begs the question, you know, what happened? What happened to the Nicki Minaj who championed the rights of the oppressed and the Nikki who performed at the pride events, the Nikki who actually warned men in a crowd at one of her shows. You can look it up. She warned the men not to end up marrying someone like Melania. This is from her quote. Now, whatever that means, I don't know what she meant by that, but it does not sound positive. It does not sound like the people you want to align yourself with. But yet here she is aligning herself with Melania and an administration that is intently erasing black and LGBTQ history. It's an admin that is literally demanding that museums remove artifacts of African American history that speak to the African American experience and contributions 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 gay service members who have, in Harvey's case, he was slain through a hate crime. And this is not just a political stance when you align yourself with someone like that. Okay, it's a dangerous game of erasure that you are participating in. And it's particularly egregious when you are a black woman and you seemingly are siding with the oppressor of black women. So when I think of Harriet Tubman in these moments, I sometimes think about, you know, we make the joke about the ones that Harriet would have left behind or should have left behind. And I thought about this as an interesting segment for the show, you know, the ones Harriet should have left behind. Because Nikki's recent statements suggest that she might be the first honorable mention of this segment of the show, because she is clearly speaking against, being very antithetical to the struggles of those who fought for her right to actually speak, live, and thrive and be an artist as a black woman, a black woman in America. And here she is completely going against all those things, harming that very, very community. So let's call it what it is. You know, it's betrayal for many people. And while some seek to excuse her actions, I say it's time you hold people accountable, right? It's not enough just to overlook the people that we love in music and their harmful rhetoric just because we love their pink wigs and we love their videos and we love, you know, their fashion choices. You know, they're they can cause real damage with their words and with the messaging that 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. We don't know if she actually deleted it or not, but the the word is that she deleted her Instagram account after losing 10 million followers because of her alignment with the turning point organization and Erica Kirk, who's the widow of Charlie Kirk. And what's so crazy about that is Charlie Kirk himself, there are clips online of Charlie Kirk himself literally denouncing Nicki Minaj in the most reductive ways, declaring her to be the worst example of a role model for black women and really just saying that she's beneath the idea of being someone who should be looked up to by black women. Uh, he's very clear that he did not care for Nicki Minaj in any way. And here she is now grifting on stage with his widow, praising Charlie Kirk's divisive position. So it's very strange. Uh, some people are speculating that she is attempting to get pardons for her brother and for her husband. Both of them are uh involved in very serious sexual abuse crimes. Her brother, I believe, actually is convicted and in prison for 25 years for having sex with a minor. And her husband's accused of sexually assaulting a woman. And Nikki is also named in that lawsuit as well, somehow, some way, which is kind of um another layer to the story that we won't get into today. But that is what's going on in her world. 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, he doesn't have the the ability to pardon either of those situations for Nikki's brother and her husband. So unless there's some other potential thing going on, I I've heard something about her father, maybe, but her father passed away, as far as I thought. So I don't think he's an issue. Um, so I don't know what this is all about, what's going on with why she's taken this position. But in any event, what I do know is that it's vital that we speak out against our uh the those who seem to want to harm us. We have to speak out against harmful ideologies, no matter the source, no matter how much we love them. I love Madonna, and I called her out countless times when she's done silly things, notably when she used the N-word once in a uh text. You know, she's getting too comfortable. Yeah, I know you got black kids, girl, but you you still the N-word, I know it's tricky and all that, but you we don't drop the N-word if you're not black. And I don't even really sanction it when black people do it, but it's just one of those things that if you're not black, you really better not do it. So Madonna learned that the hard way. But I, you know, I and other of her fans dragged her for that. We still love her, but she apologized as well. She also said, I get it. I I had no right to do that. I'm sorry, and I should have known better. That's called contrition. You don't get that from Nikki Minaj right now. She's doubling down on it. She's doubling down on her anti-trans stance, she's doubling down on uh the things she's saying about Charlie Kirk being someone who was admirable to be looked up to when he was one of the most divisive political figures in modern history, even denouncing black women. So Nikki's choosing her alliance. And in this case, it's turning point USA. So if Nikki is listening, all I can say is, girl, we urge you to reflect on your influence and the responsibility that comes with it. Remember who you are and who you represented, because the descendants of the ones Harriet Tubman did help get free deserve a lot better than what you're giving. And that makes me wonder as we keep the conversation going, and I ask you all to chime in. How do you feel about Nikki's recent actions? Just like, what do you think about it? And join the discussion and let me know if she were to apologize and try to uh win back her demographic of black LGBTQ 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 uh comment section there. Let me know your thoughts, and I will uh comment back and share them publicly and talk about them on the air. So next up, JD Vance. You know, I posted on Facebook and Instagram recently this comment that JD Vance, and I'm gonna grab my phone now because I have these uh comments. So as I speak to you, I am going to be uh people who are watching the video, I'm actually on my phone gonna be scrolling to try to find this comment that I actually uh left on Facebook and on Instagram, excuse me, and on Instagram that got a lot of feedback and I loved it because I posed a question directly to white people. I did. It was a very specific question. It had to do with JD Vance because JD Vance was at the turning point USA conference as well. Oh, here it is. I got the the post because I want to make sure I get some of the uh comments that I got and share them with you. But in my post, I said, white people help me out here. You know, I've been on this good earth for a long while. I've lived through Ronald Reagan, I've lived through Bill Clinton, Obama, uh Jimmy Carter. Like I've been on this earth for a little bit. I've lived through reality TV, um, several unnecessary revivals of low-rise genes that seem to never die, just keep kind of coming back. I mean, I've lived through a lot, right? I've seen a lot. I've never seen or heard a white person apologize for being white. So when JD Vance got on stage recently at the Turning Point USA rally and said, finally, white people can stop apologizing for being white. I went to the internet to ask white people, like, when did that happen? You know, I don't think I've ever heard it. Not once, not privately, not publicly, not whispered in a corner, not during a full moon. Like I've never heard it. So I was like, what do you mean by we don't have to apologize anymore? When did that start? Because no black people I know at all have ever asked a white person to actually apologize for being white. We didn't circulate a memo, we didn't put it in a Google Doc, or there was no secret meeting that we had in which we said, okay, on today's next agenda item, we're gonna demand people apologize for being white. Like, no, that never happened ever. What did happen is this we've asked for centuries for fairness. We've asked for equity, we ask for equal treatment and protections under the law. We ask not to be criminalized and not to be marginalized, not to be redlined and underpaid and overpoliced and erased. And somehow asking those very simple things seem to get translated as you want me to feel bad for being white. And I want to say, no, not at all. That is not at all what that means. But we do want to ask you to feel somewhat responsible for systems that are continued that you do benefit from at the 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 gets conveniently blurred every election cycle because outrage polls a lot better than honesty. But when I posed that question, I got some really great responses. And um, one of my favorite was excuse me, um, well, I can't read that one because it has a lot of profanities. But um someone said that it's actually been uh in his 40 years of existence as a white person, I have never, nor have I ever seen or heard other white people apologize for being white. Um, I have felt bad, however, about and held empathy for others over things that white people have done to people of color in our country systemically and across the world. Yet I've never apologized for that or been demanded to or expected to apologize for those heinous things because I personally did not commit them. And that is exactly right. Black people are not saying white people are responsible for the sins of their fathers, as the quote goes. We're asking them to be uh aware and responsible enough that we don't repeat them. And that is a big difference. I want to make sure that that's a clarity moment if anyone's listening of what we're actually asking for. And that was shared by David. I won't say his last name, but I will put um that was just one I wanted to share. I will put a link to this Facebook thread if you all want to chime in and keep it respectful because I keep my finger on a block and delete button real quickly. So no foolishness, but we're open to having these great conversations because that is how unified we will move together. Okay. So statements like the one that JD Vance made aren't about freeing white people from shame or anything of this sort. They're really about a covert operation to activate resentment in white people, to have them blame all that's wrong with their lives on the others. I will tell you one thing that always confuses me in this argument. On one hand, you hear arguments about, for example, the Mexicans are taking our jobs. And in that same breath, you'll hear the Mexicans are lazy and they just want to take advantage of all of our uh opportunities in America. Well, both those things can't be true. Someone can't be lazy and also trying to take your job. So the rhetoric right there is so convoluted, we have to understand that it's coming from a place of disingenuous uh sentiment and there's a presence there trying to just keep the marginalized groups fighting so that none of us realize that all of us are actually getting screwed, if you will, by a financial system that is not really set up in our favor. And once we realize that and really come together, man, we could do some really, really great stuff. But that is why this kind of rhetoric is dangerous. And that's why people are calling it a dog whistle of what JD Vann said, because it's being said at a pitch, much like a dog whistle. That's not meant for every ear. But those who are supposed to receive it, they do. And the reaction is anger and resentment. So what we're asking for is we want America to stop pretending that certain history didn't exist and didn't happen, and that the consequences uh the consequences of that history does not linger and still impact us today. That's all. So if the idea of equal fairness feels like a punishment, then I think our conversation um is much bigger than apologies. There is a deeper issue for us to address. And that's what I'm trying to do here. So drop your comments again, find the threads. I'm gonna drop the link to them. And I want you to chime in again respectfully, because I'm trying to cultivate real conversations here that are not divisive, that are not angry, that really maybe have the potential to unify us and bring us all together. And um, I would love nothing more than to see a more unified front against issues that are really impacting all of us uh equally, despite the fact that there's an attempt. To make us think that it's the other we have to be afraid of. Now, that said, I do have a final thing to talk about, which is a little bit more sad. I will give the Naughty But Nice with Rob podcast a shout out for the exclusive they broke on the story. And it was about Nick Reiner a couple of days ago. And that Nick Reiner, who, as we know, killed his or allegedly killed his parents. He had deep psychological issues. He was a serious addict who had suffered many relapses in his attempt to be sober. He was also socially inept. He had a really hard, difficult time socially when it comes to relationships, friendships, all the above. He just was a, I'm not making excuses for him, but in understanding who he was, he was just a person that completely felt like an alien visiting the planet and just never could find his way in feeling like he belonged. And that's unfortunately what drove a lot of his anguish. Whatever. But in any event, whatever. That's not to say that he anything he did was justified. But there was another point of the story that I think shocked a lot of people. At the time of him killing his parents, allegedly, they were taking care of him, giving him an allowance of $10,000 a month, covering all his food, all his expenses, his bills. He had health insurance and he lived 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't believe he was in such bad shape with all that money and material wealth being taken care of for him. So the bigger part of the story that I want to make sure we focus on with that observation is that it proves once again that money does not buy happiness, does not buy emotional stability, it does not buy love, it does not buy any of those things if there's a deeper disturbance happening within the person, within the core of the person. You can throw money at things all day. We've seen it happen. And unless um the conflicts are worked out or addressed and dealt with, then um you're just throwing money at a bad situation with no real aspect of return to be considered. It's just wasting good money. Now I will say that, of course, the Reiners reportedly, since Nick Reiner was a child and became involved in questionable activity, they've attempted to support him. They did put him in rehab multiple times and they did try to include him. And so this is not in any way to say that the parents weren't doing their job, because as far as we know, they love their son, they loved all their kids, and they tried everything they could to help him. The only point I'm trying to make is do not make the assumption that money is the answer to everything and to all your problems, because this is an example of why that is unequivocally not true. And unless you work on the issues and work them out, in fact, money could make the problem worse in many aspects. So just a lesson to keep in mind, and then a new development in that story is that many other Hollywood celebrities with children, adult children who are in similar situations, are now worried. They're afraid. They may have been enabling their child all this time, and now their child's an adult, still living with them, maybe, or with deep psychological issues, very similar dynamic. And they are afraid that what if their child does this, uh does this to them? And so now there is this buzz around Hollywood of many Hollywood parents of troubled kids, all maybe waking up a little bit and seeing that what they've been doing over the years has not worked, and maybe they need to try something else before another tragedy of this magnitude happens. We hope it doesn't, but in any event, um again, rest in peace to Michelle and Rob Reiner. And I hope Nick somehow gets the psychological help he needs because clearly uh he's got some issues to work out. So, not the most cheerful stories to share with you on Christmas Day, I know, but we will end it with a positive note. You know, we have gone through a lot this year, 2025, yes, but 2026, I always love to say that a new year is just a new opportunity to hit the reset button and just look back and reflect on all the things that you wanted to do last year that you didn't do, or things you attempted to do that didn't work out. You get a chance to do them again and use that knowledge of why things didn't work out the way you thought they would. Use that as your marketing feedback to know how to execute and attempt to do it again with better results. Do not give up on those dreams and ambitions and launch a project you've been longing to think of and uh longing to do, but you haven't done it, though you've been thinking of it. And this new year, we're just a couple days away from a new year and a new opportunity for you to put those plans into action and be the badass that you know you are. So that's it. Thanks so much for joining me today here on this episode of the Core Issues Podcast with me, Corey Andrew. And of course, I also am a co-host of the Naughty But Nice with Rob podcast on Fridays with Rob Shooter, who is just uh an awesome, wonderful source of celebrity news and gossip. And he's like my mentor, my guru, and he's really been awesome to me over the years. I'm thankful for him as we look into a new year of 2026 of more wonderful podcast episodes to come. So thank you all. Happy holidays and happy 2026.

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