By Tai Saint Louis
Both Lil Wayne's management team and a Chicago-based promotions company have denied rumors that Wayne and his manager Cortez Bryant were held hostage in Chicago.
Reports claimed that the alleged assaulted took place following a Dec. 29th performance by the rapper at the Premier Entertainment Center, which was organized by Ming's Dynasty Records and The Ark Entertainment.
Reports stated that members of the rapper’s camp and security detail were assaulted and held hostage after Wayne failed to appear at the concert after party, put on by the same promoters.
"That is just a rumor," Lil Wayne's manager Cortez Bryant told AllHipHop.com. "We are on the road grinding. We are on the way to Minneapolis for a show tomorrow. We never got held hostage at all."
Big Ming, CEO of Ming's Dynasty Records, echoed Bryant's statement.
"Some of it is an exaggeration, but the fundamental parts of it is true," Ming told AllHipHop.com exclusively.
Ming went on to explain that Wayne was expected to appear at the December 29 after party to fulfill a previous missed engagement dating back to this past summer.
"We paid Lil Wayne to do an after party, along with Ark Entertainment. Ming's Dynasty Records did the Chicago Summer Jam. Lil Wayne was the headliner, along with Jeezy, Fat Joe, Yung Buck, and Fabolous, at the Allstate Arena. He didn't make it to the after party; we gave him $15Gs and he didn’t make it."
According to Ming, after several failed attempts to collect a refund on the payment, he made the decision to arrange another after party appearance, when he booked Wayne for the event in December.
"Since Lil Wayne’s so hot right now, they wanted another $7500," Ming explained. "But he didn't make this after party either. So basically, at this point it's two after parties missed, that they got paid to perform in August. And now here it is, almost the 1st of January. So you know, just like any consumer, I paid for a service, I didn't get the service. So I wanted a refund. The thing is, I realize how hard it is to catch these guys once they leave Chicago. So representatives from Ming’s Dynasty Records and The Ark Entertainment just went to his hotel and just requested the money. So, they came up with the money. So it was all good. It was just a situation where I didn't wanna try it again, I didn't wanna try to fix it again, because the same thing [would've] happened again."
While Ming denied that he and his representatives held the rapper and his manager hostage, he did admit that the situation became tense.
"Nobody really got roughed up or nothing like that," Ming said. "I mean, Wayne made over $200,000 [with] Ming's Dynasty Records over the last months. So I would think we got a good relationship, we can [continue to] have a good relationship. I hope they understand that it’s just business."