MIAMI (AP) – Grammy-winning dancehall reggae star Beenie Man urged his fans not to watch a weekend broadcast of the MTV Video Music Awards because the network wouldn’t let him perform at a concert associated with the show, his manager said.

MTV pulled the Jamaican from the roster Aug. 23 after South Florida GLBT activists announced plans to protest the concert in Miami over some of his lyrics, including “I’m dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays” and “Queers must be killed.”

“We don’t want anything to overshadow what will be a great weekend of music events for South Floridians,” MTV spokesperson Marnie Black said. She declined further comment.

The awards show took place at the bayfront American Airlines Arena in Miami, the first time in the glam-filled event’s 21-year history that it took place outside New York and Los Angeles.

Beenie Man’s manager, Clyde McKenzie, said the lyrics are from music that’s several years old and are “metaphorical.” He said his client isn’t trying to incite violence against gays.

“He really loves his fans. He has all kinds of fans. People in the gay community, black, white, Chinese,” McKenzie said.

“I just smile, because I don’t know what they’re fussing about,” Beenie Man told The Miami Herald when asked about his lyrics. “I’m not here to cuss people. I make music. But at the same time I just want to teach people – my sons and my daughters – the right way of life.”

“We respectfully suggest that he use other metaphors,” said Heddy Pena, executive director of the Miami-based gay-rights group SAVE Dade, which had planned to organize the protest.

“It’s disappointing to see artists use their talents as a tool for hatred and bigotry,” she said.

McKenzie said Beenie Man wasn’t telling fans and artists to avoid attending the VMAs and associated shows in Miami, but just the national television broadcast.

“He wants to put a dent in their numbers so they can’t charge as much for advertising,” McKenzie said.

Beenie Man, born Anthony Moses Davis, is on a world tour promoting his new album, Back to Basics. His songs include “Dude”, “Girls Dem Sugar” and “Who Am I?” His album Art and Life won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 2001.

He has been canceled from several concerts on his tour this year following uproar from gay groups about his lyrics. He ends the tour in Miami on Nov. 8.