Nicki Minaj is adding another high-profile role to her résumé, this time as a celebrity judge for a Trump administration-backed small-business competition.
The rapper will appear on the judging panel for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Million Dollar Pitch Competition, formerly promoted as the Patriot Pitch Competition. The live finale is set for Sept. 18 in Washington, D.C., where five entrepreneurs will compete for shares of a $1 million prize pool.
Minaj will judge alongside entrepreneur and real estate investor Grant Cardone and Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia. Actor Dean Cain, known for starring in “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” will host the event.
The competition is part of the SBA’s Freedom 250 initiative, which is tied to events marking the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The top finisher will receive $400,000, followed by prizes of $250,000, $150,000, $125,000, and $75,000. The SBA says the full $1 million prize pool is funded by Clover Network Inc.
The five finalists are Compotech Inc. of Maine, Winton Machine of Georgia, Plas-Tech Tooling of Iowa, Red River of Wyoming, and VetPowered LLC of California.
Minaj’s involvement gives the government-backed event a prominent pop-culture draw and adds to the crossover between celebrity and politics that has become a recurring feature of the Trump era.
The competition’s format also carries echoes of business reality television, with entrepreneurs pitching their companies before a panel for a chance at a major cash award. Trump himself spent years as the host of NBC’s “The Apprentice” before launching his political career.
