Lil Wayne sparked a firestorm after he made the decision to pull his protégée Nicki Minaj from Hot 97 Summer Jam. Now the Young Money chief is speaking out on his controversial move.

“That’s a female; first and foremost Nicki Minaj is a female,” the “Lollipop” rapper told MTV News backstage at Birthday Bash 17 in Atlanta. “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.”

After being ridiculed publicly by Hot 97 personality Peter Rosenberg, Nicki informed her boss. “As soon as she called me and told me she felt disrespected, I just declined everything,” said Tunechi. “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.”

While Weezy feels she should have been treated with respect, he doesn’t hold a grudge against the New York radio station. “I expect the red carpet, in her manner; the pink carpet to be laid out for her,” he continued. “It’s just an executive move, no salt, no bad feelings, no hard feelings.”

But he still stands by his decision. “I feel like a woman’s supposed to be respected at all times, therefore I believe I made the right decision,” he said.