A feud that started over an interview has now pulled N.O.R.E.’s wife into the argument. Neri Santiago is warning DJ Vlad to leave her out of his dispute with her husband after he described her as white and used their marriage to challenge N.O.R.E.’s criticism of his relationship with Black culture.
Vlad recently argued that N.O.R.E.’s rhetoric about race did not square with being married to what he called a white woman. The remark followed weeks of increasingly personal exchanges between the two media figures. As we previously reported, N.O.R.E. has accused Vlad of profiting from “Black drama” while questioning whether he belongs within Hip Hop. Vlad has rejected those accusations and defended his work covering Black artists.
Santiago was not interested in becoming evidence for either side. In a comment responding to Vlad’s remarks, she accused him of making assumptions about her background based on her appearance. “Keep your conflict with my husband and stop involving me,” she wrote. “The fact that you’re a grown man who thinks light skin and blonde hair automatically means ‘white’ is beyond ignorant and uneducated.”
She continued by accusing Vlad of failing to understand the difference between race and ethnicity before warning him about making inaccurate statements about her publicly. “Keep my name out of your mouth,” Santiago said, adding, “and be very careful about making false statements about me publicly, because I have no problem handling defamation legally.”
Read More: N.O.R.E. Accuses DJ Vlad Of Racism As Their Feud Gets Uglier
DJ Vlad Says He Will Respond To Neri Santiago
Vlad did not back away after seeing Santiago’s warning. He shared a screenshot of her comment on X and described it as a threat to sue him for defamation.
“Here is the post by Nore’s wife threatening to sue me for defamation,” he wrote. Vlad also said he planned to address Santiago in a forthcoming video alongside his thoughts on the sexual assault lawsuit Carmen Bryan filed against N.O.R.E.
Bringing Santiago into the dispute adds another personal turn to a feud that has already moved far beyond its original complaint. Vlad first criticized N.O.R.E. for allegedly failing to return the favor after Vlad appeared on Drink Champs, saying the rapper avoided sitting for a VladTV interview they had discussed. N.O.R.E. responded that he deliberately chose not to do the interview because he does not like Vlad and accused him of exploiting conflict within Black communities.
Their exchanges have since included arguments about race, VladTV’s role in Hip Hop, and the drinking culture surrounding Drink Champs. N.O.R.E. also publicly challenged Vlad to take a lie detector test over whether he has ever used the N-word. Meanwhile, the Carmen Bryan case Vlad referenced is separate from his dispute with Santiago. Bryan filed a civil lawsuit accusing N.O.R.E. of sexually assaulting her at a Manhattan nightclub in 1999. N.O.R.E. has denied knowing Bryan, according to Pitchfork. The allegations have not been proven in court.
For now, Santiago has not announced that she has actually filed a defamation lawsuit against Vlad. Her public comment warned that she was prepared to take legal action if he continued making what she described as false statements about her. Vlad, for his part, says a longer response is coming.
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