Kanye West calls Taylor Swift a 'fake ass'

Kayne West ranted about Taylor Swift in leaked audio recorded behind the scenes on SNL. Photo / Getty

Kanye West launched into a foul-mouthed rant and threatened to walk out just before he was set to take to the stage on Saturday Night Live over the weekend.

The 38-year-old rapper was recorded having a meltdown backstage of the show on Saturday night as he referred to staff as "white motherf*****s" and yelled, "don't f**k with me," before he claimed he was "50 per cent" more influential than Stanley Kubrick and Pablo Picasso.

In the audio tape, obtained by the New York Post newspaper, he screeched: "Let's get to it, bro. Let's get to it, bro! Are they f***ing crazy? Bro! By 50 per cent.

Taylor Swift stood up to Kanye West in her Grammys acceptance speech after he made derogatory comments about her in his new song, Famous. Photo / Getty

"Stanley Kubrick, Apostle Paul, Picasso... f***ing Picasso and Escobar. By 50 per cent more influential than any other human being. Don't f**k with me. Don't f**k with me. Don't f**k with me. By 50 per cent, dead or alive, by 50 per cent for the next thousand years. Stanley Kubrick. Ye."

But it wasn't just the staff who were in the firing line as Kanye was also heard branding Taylor Swift, who he infuriated last week when he released his new song Famous in which he references having sex with her and claims he's responsible for her career, a "fake ass."

He ranted: "Look at that s**t, they took my f***ing stage off of SNL without asking me. Now I'm bummed. That and Taylor Swift, fake ass. Now I ain't gonna do this. We're breaking the mother-f***ing Internet."

It's believed the Bound 2 hitmaker lost his cool after he found out his stage design was changed and taken apart without his approval and his wife Kim Kardashian West, with whom he has two-year-old daughter North and two-month-old son Saint, was forced to intervene.

A source explained: "It had something to do with the set. Kim, who was in the audience had to come down."

Since the news broke a representative for the rapper told Rolling Stone his comments had been taken out of context.

"This audio was secretly recorded while he was venting his frustration in a private moment with his team," the rep said.

"He found out his stage design was changed and taken apart under the direction of the show's lighting director without anyone's approval."

- Bang! Showbiz