Lil Wayne Explains Why He Pulled Nicki Minaj From Summer Jam

Lil Wayne has explained why he decided to pull Nicki Minaj from performing at Hot 97's Summer Jam concert earlier this month.

Lil Wayne broke his silence about the incident over the weekend, telling MTV News on Saturday that he honored Nicki Minaj's feelings of being disrespected by pulling her from the show after the Young Money queen was insulted by one of the New York radio station's DJs. He said Minaj was disrespected not just as an artist, but as a woman.

"That's a female; first and foremost Nicki Minaj is a female. I don't know what anyone else believes, but I believe females deserve the ultimate respect at all times no matter, when or where or how," the multiplatinum rapper told MTV.

Minaj backed out of the closing performance of the June 3 concert after Hot 97 personality Peter Rosenberg insulted her song "Starships" in front of the crowd. The comments prompted Weezy to pull all YMCMB artists' Summer Jam performances, which also included DJ Khaled's. (Young Money MC Tyga had already taken the stage before the decision.)

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"Young Money ain't doing summer jam," Weezy tweeted at the time, while Minaj responded to it by writing on her own Twitter account, "I go above and beyond for my fans. But won't ever go against Wayne's word. What he says, goes."

Minaj explained her side of the decision in a phone interview with Hot 97 veteran Funkmaster Flex on June 4.

"Like I told you, Flex, this was not about 2,000 people that [Rosenberg] was talking to. This was streaming to the world. That stream! was pos ted on my website," the rapper said. "Everybody is grown enough to keep their opinions to their self. When you disrespect Nicki Minaj, you're disrespecting my fans."

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Expecting to receive better treatment from the show's host, Minaj added in her interview with Flex, "When you invite somebody to your home, you treat somebody with respect."

"As soon as she called me and told me she felt disrespected, I just declined everything," Weezy told MTV in the new interview. "I pulled her from the show because ... no person that works with me will be disrespected in my presence as long as I'm on this planet."

In fact, Wayne added that Minaj should have gotten the royal treatment from the radio station.

"I expect the red carpet, in her manner; the pink carpet should be laid out for her," he said, explaining he wasn't trying to extend a beef. "It's just an executive move, no salt, no bad feelings, no hard feelings.

"I feel like a woman should be respected at all times, therefore I made the right decision," he said.