Was Kim Kardashian's sex tape leaked on purpose?

Kim Kardashian West and her mother deliberately leaked her sex tape to make her famous, a new book has claimed.

The 35-year-old reality star signed a contract with Vivid Entertainment in 2007 to leak the raunchy film she made with then-boyfriend Ray J in 2003 after being "advised" by a friend it would be a quick way to find fame, and allowed her mum and manager Kris Jenner to finalise the deal that led to the footage being made public.

Author Ian Halperin quotes a source in his new book Kardashian Dynasty as saying: "A mutual friend of Kim and Paris [Hilton] had advised her that if she wanted to achieve fame, a sex tape would be the way to go .?.?. Kim had discussed the idea of producing a tape with her family beforehand."

And another friend of Kim's told the author: "It was Kris who engineered the deal behind the scenes and was responsible for the tape seeing the light of day," although he added this had been long rumored in the showbiz world.

According to the New York Post newspaper, Halperin then posed as a porn peddler wanting to sell another celebrity sex tape in order to speak to the adult film company's spokesperson.

He claims the representative said: "When it comes to selling a sex tape, both parties need to sign off."

Asked how Kim's sex tape was made public, they added: "A third party brought it to Vivid .?.?. [We] got in touch with the Kardashian family."

The spokesperson went on to explain a tape is likely to leak, so if the star "works with them", they will earn money and be distributed how they want.

They were quoted as added: "I can tell you right now. Kim Kardashian's movie came out in '07, and she's made millions."

Kim - who has children North, two, and Saint, three months, with husband Kanye West - threatened to sue Vivid and was paid a reported $5 million settlement, but the tape was still released.

In his book, which is released next month, the author concluded: "It is clear that Vivid would not have announced plans to distribute Kim's tape without a clear indication from the family that they would give the go-ahead once they had come to terms on a price."

A spokesperson for the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star insisted: "All the assertions are false."

- Bang! Showbiz