Lil Wayne’s sexuality has been periodically called into question over 2015 — and there may be more to this story than 40 Glocc gay-shaming Lil Wayne. Instead, Lil Wayne may not be gay — but he may have been sexually abused by a man (or a group of adults or other minors of either gender) when he was a minor (which does not necessarily mean him or his sexual abuser are gay).

Many publications are covering the story behind “the reason Lil Wayne is suing Cash Money and Birdman” — but is the media downplaying the fact that Lil Wayne may want out of his contract because Birdman is an alleged predator that may have sexually abused Lil Wayne as a child?

Over the years, Lil Wayne’s relationship with Birdman has been complicated — and researching the allegations of sexual abuse can be difficult since Birdman used to be called Baby — and his real name is Brian Williams.

Unfortunately, no matter which name he used, the fact that Birdman may have been trying to have Lil Wayne killed may be a sign he was attempting to “silence his victim.”

Although Lil Wayne (like many sexual abuse victims) has never pressed charges (perhaps due to the unique stigma surrounding male rape), if he did confirm Birdman sexually abused him — this could change the background music of his current beef with Birdman dramatically.

Although he played it off (like many adult male survivors of rape), Lil Wayne did admit to being sexually abused by Baby, aka Birdman, in a documentary he did in 2009 called, The Carter.

Lil Wayne later wanted the documentary halted — but video where he describes being sexually abused as a minor by Baby/Birdman remains in circulation.

Lil Wayne “admits” that he was sexually abused as a minor in a NSFW video where he told Lil Twist that he was coerced by adults to display his genitals and engage in sexual acts with another minor in front of adult men.

The Washington City Paper described the Lil Wayne 2009 documentary and said the following on January 12, 2010.

“The Carter was originally undertaken with Lil Wayne’s blessing, but the rapper later withdrew his support for the film (and sued the filmmakers), ostensibly due to its depictions of Wayne’s heavy drug use…. In the middle of The Carter, an obviously high Lil Wayne jokes openly about being raped at the age of 11 with the encouragement of his surrogate father, Baby—and informs Lil Twist, a 15-year-old member of Wayne’s record label Young Money, that Wayne is going to help him get raped, too.”

Despite Lil Wayne’s denial that he was sexually abused, members of the media see his story about Birdman to have clear indicators that the behavior would be labeled as sexual abuse of a minor as defined by legal parameters.

On June 30, 2009, Hip Hop and Politics wrote the following.

“I’m also told by industry insiders that Lil Wayne was continuously sexually molested as a child, remains in a psychologically abusive relationship with the molester, and for that reason his understanding of what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate for children is terribly skewed. I don’t know if that is true. If it is, help is needed.”

Lil Wayne obviously did not file charges against Birdman as an abuser, but in 2014, it was rumored that Lil Chuckee did.

In the recent past, Birdman has continued his possible abuse of Lil Wayne by going to newspapers and telling the media, “he is my son” and denying claims that he was part of a conspiracy to have Lil Wayne killed.

Of course, it would not be impossible for Lil Wayne to believe that Cash Money Records associates might be plotting against his life — especially if sex abuse was involved.

On January 30, 2012, XXL reported, “[Nicole] Westmoreland’s attorney, Charles Hodges, has filed a civil lawsuit pending against Cash Money Records on her behalf. She says that her life was threatened by reps of the record label and was offered $100,000 not to go to the police, but she refused. Westmoreland added that she was told ‘if I didn’t drop it that they were going to kill me.'”

On November 5, 2012, Juvenile talked to Hip Hop DX about the situation with Lil Wayne and Birdman in the mid-2000s and stated the following.

“I thought he was scared [that’s why he stayed]… that’s how I took it. I was like, ‘You don’t have to be scared.’… So I’m like, ‘Don’t let them n****s intimidate you. Don’t let that looking hard s*** intimidate you because n***a I’m really with it. If you wanna leave, leave. You’re with me now, not them.’ One thing led to another and he signed back, but I took it as he was scared.”

For more information about surviving male rape or sexual abuse, consult 1in6.org.

[Feature image via Rick Diamond/Getty Images]