Rap sensation Kanye West has sacked his assistant after he lost his favourite shoes.

The JESUS WALKS hitmaker, who claimed the Best Male Video prize at Sunday's (28AUG05) MTV Video Music Awards, was devastated when his Ferragamo shoes went missing - and then learned his assistant had misplaced them.

West insists it isn't the first time the hapless helper had messed up - he also forgot to vote for his boss.

The rapper explains, "I attempted to vote... but I ended up being on tour and I had an assistant, who is now fired, who was supposed to turn in my absentee ballot and didn't.

"The assistant f**ked up a lot of s**t. I was more mad about him losing my Ferragamo shoes than my absentee ballot."