A US mag has sensationally claimed Kanye West paid to keep a sex tape from being released after romping with a Kim Kardashian lookalike before he started dating the reality star.

And if the claims are true, he wouldn't be the first celebrity to dig deep and cough up cash to keep his private moments from becoming more talked about than his career.

"A Hollywood businessman who brokered other sex tapes with celebrities successfully negotiated the deal,” a source claimed to Radar Online.

"Kanye was very relieved. It would have been a disaster had it ever been released."

The website reports the revelation was buried in secret court documents and the video allegedly shows the rapper and an 18-year-old female having sex shortly before he started dating Kim.

Here are five other celebrities who fought to keep their sex tapes a secret:

Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen paid out £6.6million in a frantic bid to keep up to eight sex tapes private, it was claimed.

Sheen feared that tapes allegedly showing the movie star with a male lover and allegedly smoking crack could be made public.

The videos are believed to show the shamed Hollywood actor with both male and female lovers.

Sheen, 50, is fighting to keep the footage off the internet but details of what the tapes show are expected to be released.

The troubled star of Wall Street is already facing a slew of legal claims from former partners after admitting he is HIV-positive .

Tulisa

It was the ultimate betrayal by her ex-boyfriend, Justin Edwards, who sold intimate footage of the pair on the internet.

The former X-Factor judge said he "messed with the wrong woman" when he tried to sell the private sex tape and she ended up taking him to court.

Tulisa won a High Court order banning publication of the footage when it first emerged.

The singer said she was "disgusted" by her ex-lover's attempt to make $6m (£3.8m) by releasing the video on the internet as he set up a business deal, by placing it online and charging $5.99 per download.

About 60 websites were forced to remove the sex tape after her and Justin settled out of court and the singer continued legal action to ensure it could never be downloaded in the future.

Colin Farrell

We'd be a bit disappointed if Colin had never made a sex tape as he seems the right sort. But he has, so, um, we're not.

He sued his 2003 co-star, Playboy model Nicole Narain, accusing her of releasing it to make money.

They ended up settling out of court.

Colin told Jonathan Ross on his talk show in 2005: "At the end of the deposition the man in charge said, 'I hope you've learned your lesson, Mr Farrell,' and I said, 'Absolutely, next time I'll take the tape with me.'"

Hulk Hogan

Hogan is currently engaged in an on-going court case with website Gawker after they leaked his sex tape featuring Heather Clem, the then-wife of his best friend Bubba 'the Love Sponge' Clem.

The star is suing them for $100 million in damages, in a move that could potentially end the gossip site if they lose - after already failing to get the case thrown out.

With the trial imminent, Gawker will have to prove the tape was "newsworthy" enough to be posted.

Gawker expects to lose the court battle in March, company president Heather Dietrick told staff in October.

"It's probably difficult to win the case entirely, outright, knowing the jury that we're facing, but it's possible," she said.

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez may be caught in a sex tape scandal as footage she has battled in court to keep private could be released to the public.

The singer's intimate videos - recording by first husband Ojani Noa - have been the subject of a complicated legal battle for six years, but now her ex-hubby's business partner is planning to unveil the film telling the tale of their doomed marriage.

In Touch magazine reported in September that the master tape of all the footage is in a central depository per court order, but Ed Meyer believes they have a legal loophole after J-Lo withdrew her claims while the case was in arbitration.

Jennifer married Ojani in February 1997 before they split after 11 months of marriage the following year.