AceShowbiz - Birdman has dismissed speculation that he dissed Lil Wayne during his performance at the Essence Festival in New Orleans last month. In an interview with Gregory "Geedy P" Earls, the Cash Money Records co-founder stated that he would never do anything to disrespect Wayne. He explained that Wayne was not originally planning to perform at Essence but agreed to do so at Birdman's request.

"We always knew that Wayne was gonna have his own set," Birdman clarified. "He had done Essence two years in a row and he turned them down personally, and I asked him would he do it for me, and he did it for me."

Birdman also denied that his closing remarks at the show were directed at Wayne. He explained that his comments were meant as a general statement about not letting the music industry dictate his actions.

"I ain't gonna let this game play me," Birdman said. "The game done played a lot of n***as. I ain't never gonna be a p***y-a** n***a to this industry and let them play me."

Lil Wayne also addressed his absence from the Cash Money reunion at Essence Festival in a video shared on Instagram. He stated that he received a message criticizing him for not joining his former labelmates onstage. Wayne responded with the cryptic comment, "What you talking about? The afterparty or something?"