'BIRDMAN' FREE ON BOND AFTER MARIJUANA ARREST; RAPPER EXPLAINS HIS SIDE; DENIES BEING MARRIED TO 18-YEAR-OLD WOMAN.

Bryan "Baby" Williams, aka Birdman, is free on $1,500 bond one day after he was charged with possession of marijuana. The 38-year-old rapper and co-founder of Cash Money Records was released Wednesday from Sullivan County Jail in Tennessee. As I reported yesterday, Birdman was among 16 people in a rented RV that was stopped by cops for making an improper lane change. The move forced a tractor-trailer into the emergency lane on Interstate 81, according to authorities. Kingsport Police Cpl. Tim Horne said he could smell marijuana from inside the RV and found about a pound of marijuana in a trash can in the vehicle's kitchenette.

Explaining his side of the story to MTV News Wednesday, Birdman said: "We was on the bus. I was asleep in the back. Why they pulled us over, I don't know. The people are making the situation out worse than what it is. We got arrested for a misdemeanor amount of [marijuana] — we didn't have no pound. The police just found something minor in a garbage can the dog sniffed. We all got out on bond."

It was reported by some outlets (not EUR) that one of the people arrested with Birdman was an 18-year-old female who was described as his wife. Not so, he says. "I'm not married,” he emphatically stated. "Never! been! Married! Plus, that girl was 18! I don't get down like that! Plus, if I was married, why would I keep it a secret?" According to Birdman, the young woman is a companion of one of the members of his entourage.

The other 15 people in the RV were also charged with possession of marijuana, according to a news release from the Kingsport Police Department. They, too, were freed on bond Wednesday.

Birdman is currently promoting his new album, 5 Star G, which is due for release on Dec. 11. He said he's due back in court on March 18. "Hopefully all the charges will be dropped by then, and we won't have to go to court," he said. "But we good. Everybody is fine."