Kanye West warned paparazzi they'll soon be paying him if they want to take his picture, warning: "You don't give us any percentage of what you’re making off of us and I'm gonna change that."
The rapper paused to address photographers in a classic Kanye-style rant caught on camera, calling the current dynamic between celebrities and paparazzi "really one-sided".
"Right now y'all get to shoot us without having to pay," he said at an airport in Miami over the weekend in a video obtained by RapTV.
"Imma change that [sic]. I'm not saying it in a negative way. It’s just like, right now, it’s just really one-sided.
"You guys can follow us, you guys can stand [outside] a hotel at any given time - you don't give us any percentage of what you’re making off of us, off of our kids, and I'm gonna change that."
West, who is currently being investigated for assault after allegedly punching an autograph seeker outside a nightclub earlier this month, told the paparazzi both the person behind and in front of the camera should benefit.
"We all gotta make money together. It can't be a one-sided thing. That’s why it feels vulture-like," he said.
"Look, if I'm just with my kids, I say I don’t want you to shoot me, then that’s just something y'all gotta respect as a man 'cause if we can get that money together, but we gotta have a conversation.
"I'm gonna make sure we get our rights. We’re very important. We’re real people, also."
When one photographer pointed out the paparazzi were "reporting news" and without "candid photography" there wouldn't be documentation of history, the mood became tense.
"Don't give me that," West said. "I told you what it's gonna be now, respectfully. Don't cut me off. Y'all be trying to gaslight me."
The 'Gold Digger' hitmaker said he respected the job of the paparazzi, saying "my dad was a photographer at a newspaper."
"I love photographers, I'll hop in the car with paparazzi, I go out to eat with paparazzi. But as Americans we gotta respect each other. We gotta bring the pride back to this country," he said.
