Kanye West Compares Paparazzi Intrusion to Civil Rights Movement

Ah, another day, another rant from rapper Kanye West!

His recent diatribe wasn't spouted on stage or in an interview, but in a deposition stemming from the case in which he's accused of beating a photographer and smashing his camera.

In the transcript obtained by TMZ, the photographer's lawyer, Nate Goldberg, conducted the interview in which Kanye compares the 1960s civil rights movement to celebs fighting for their rights against the persistent paparazzi. "I mean in the '60s people used to hold up 'Die N****r' signs when my parents were in the sit-ins also... I equate it to discrimination. I equate it to inequalities."

West added, "We, as group of minorities here in L.A., as celebrities have to ban together to influence guys like this -- guys trying to take the picture, guys trying to get the big win, guys trying to get the check."

Kanye also stated, "I'm the smartest celebrity you've ever f**king dealt with. I'm not Britney Spears. I'm in the business of trying to make dope s**t for the world. You're in the business of representing scums and trying to make as much money as long as there's this lapse in the law."