EXCLUSIVE: Liza Minnelli and Kanye West In Bizarre Encounter

It's not being unkind to say that both Liza Minnelli and Kanye West have reputations as divas and apparently some of that 'tude can spread to their handlers.

That was evident Tuesday night at Paper Magazine 25th anniversary party at the Public Library in New York City when Liza wanted to meet Kanye but somehow things just went awry.

First, Kanye posed for a series of very strange photos with girlfriend Amber Rose. (He's got his arm creepily hooked around her throat in a number of the shots on PatrickMcMullan.com.) Then, West was chatting with friends when one of Liza's people tried to approach him to let him know that the superstar with a Z wanted to meet him.

A spywitness at the event told RadarOnline.com that's when the problems began, as Liza's handler tried to reason with Kanye's security detail.

"Liza's guy was a small guy, and this bodyguard was huge," our spy shared. "The guy kept going on about how Liza would be honored to meet Kanye, but they needed to go right then. The guard wasn't budging, and even called him 'little man' when telling him to wait."  Finally Minnelli's handler lost it, asking the Kanye Kreep whether "the guy Kanye's talking to right now has an Oscar? Because Liza does and right now she's waiting for him," our spy overheard. The pint-size fella pushed past the huge bouncer and physically grabbed West by the hand and dragged him across the venue to her holding area. 

Points for bravery!

Unfortunately, Minnelli had already left to go perform. "The embarrassed bhandler had to explain to a then-very upset Kanye why he'd forcefully made he, Amber Rose, and their entire entourage all the way there for nothing," the source told RadarOnline.com. "Kanye finally just shook his head in disgust and walked away."