White Wednesday: VladTV Goes Scorched Earth
Updated: Sep 10
Published September 9, 2026 at 2:15 AM EDT
DJ Vlad in Beverly Hills, CA on Friday, June 20 2025. (Photo By Juan Pablo Rico/Sipa USA)
LOS ANGELES, CA —The feud between VladTV founder DJ Vlad and Drink Champs host N.O.R.E. has gone nuclear, with Vlad responding to accusations of racism and cultural exploitation by launching a deeply personal attack on the veteran rapper.
Vlad, whose real name is Vladislav Lyubovny, 53, says the controversy began after roughly a year of canceled or ignored attempts to schedule an appearance on Drink Champs. After N.O.R.E.—Victor James Santiago Jr., 48—publicly attacked Vlad as a “culture vulture” and “rat,” Vlad released two responses addressing everything from their business relationship to their interracial dating histories.
In his latest response, Vlad mocked N.O.R.E. as a “special ed student” and questioned his cognitive abilities over his decision to telephone Hot 97 to discuss their feud. He accused N.O.R.E. of “doing special ed [expletive] on a large scale on the internet.”
Vlad also strongly rejected suggestions that he is anti-Black. He said approximately 90% of his serious relationships have been with Black women, including his first wife, second wife—the mother of two of his children—and his current partner, who is expecting another child with him.
Vlad then turned the racial argument against N.O.R.E., claiming the rapper's wife is white and describing his racial politics as “Malcolm X on Sunday, and O.J. Simpson the rest of the week.”
The VladTV founder challenged N.O.R.E. to dueling lie-detector tests. Vlad offered to answer whether he has ever used the N-word while demanding N.O.R.E. answer whether he loves dark-skinned Black women as much as white women and whether Drink Champs has pressured guests to drink alcohol.
Vlad claims he possesses text messages showing pressure to drink surrounding his planned appearance and challenged N.O.R.E. to deny the allegation, while raising the possibility of legal action.
The increasingly personal battle follows Vlad's earlier criticism of Drink Champs’ professionalism, ownership structure and relevance. He has also dismissed N.O.R.E.’s “culture vulture” accusation by pointing to the rapper's previous appearances on VladTV.
For Vlad, there appears to be little interest in reconciliation. He punctuated his first response by throwing the flowers intended for his Drink Champs appearance into a toilet.
Things took an unexpected turn days later when Carmen Bryan, the mother of Nas’ daughter Destiny, filed a civil lawsuit accusing N.O.R.E. of sexually assaulting her at a Manhattan nightclub in 1999—allegations that have not been proven in court. Amid online speculation about the suspicious timing, Vlad denied having anything to do with Bryan’s lawsuit, saying he had not communicated with her about the case and had not funded or helped organize it. Bryan previously appeared on VladTV nearly a decade ago. Vlad also revealed that N.O.R.E.’s wife, Neri Santiago, had threatened him with a defamation lawsuit, reportedly over comments he made about her race and appearance, adding yet another potential legal front to an increasingly ugly feud.
Comments