NEW YORK - Authorities say Kanye West and Kim Kardashian had to be privately screened after an airline employee allowed them to bypass a security checkpoint at New York's Kennedy International Airport.

Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein says the celebrity couple had arrived at the airport on an international flight on Tuesday.

She says after clearing customs and baggage, they were escorted by an airline employee "through a non-public area in order to provide expedited access to their domestic flight."

Farbstein says this violated security protocols by bypassing the TSA checkpoint. She says that prompted TSA officials to conduct the private screening.

The rapper and reality TV star were eventually cleared to board their flight, which departed after about a 50-minute delay.