What’s it like to work closely with award-winning egomaniac Kanye West? Just as ridiculous as you might imagine, according to his former bodyguard!
Steve Stanulis stopped by the Hollywood Raw podcast with Dax Holt and Adam Glyn to spill some tea about his days of being a bodyguard for the rapper, whom he described as one of his “least favorite people to work with over the course of time.”
During the chat, Stanulis — a former NYPD officer and Chippendales dancer — opened up about some of the bizarre rules Kim Kardashian West’s husband had and revealed whether or not he thinks Kimye tip off the paparazzi.
Related: Kim ‘Needs Some Space’ From Kanye’s ‘Super Controlling’ Behavior During Quarantine
The ex-bodyguard explained that one rule Yeezy had about staying “10 paces behind him on a city street” made it impossible for him to do his job, sharing:
“Kanye has some ridiculous rules. He wanted you to stay 10 paces behind him on a city street. So obviously if someone is going to come up and do something, by the time I try to run up and prevent it, it would have already happened.”
When asked what other crazy rules the father-of-four had, Stanulis remembered:
“The first day I met him… it was fashion week. I was supposed to meet him at the studio. When he gets there, we get into the elevator and he’s says, ‘Aren’t you going to push what floor we are going to?’ I was like, ‘I have no idea what floor, it’s my first day.’ So he starts ranting, ‘So you mean you didn’t call ahead to find out where I’m supposed to be going?’ I said, ‘No.’ So he’s ranting and raving. So I said, ‘Look bro, we can do this one of three ways. One, you could tell me what button to press, and now I’ll know. Two, you could press the button, and I’ll see which one you press so I’ll know. Or three, you can sit in here all day and tell me how important your time is and we are not going to go anywhere.’ Again, that was our first interaction. He went for the first option.”
LOLz… believable!
Later in the interview, Stanulis opened up about the challenges of dealing with the paparazzi, making it clear he thinks someone from Kim and Kanye’s team alerts the mob of shutterbugs ahead of time.
He recalled:
“One time [Kanye] was doing a fashion show and he had a rented out space in SoHo. Again, they were all waiting outside. First of all, there’s no way [paparazzi] doesn’t get called upfront. There’s no way every time they are leaving, all these people know about it. There’s definitely somebody calling ahead. That’s just my opinion.”
The hosts then asked him to clarify if he thought Kim and Kanye called the papz themselves — to which he replied:
“I’m just saying it’s coincidental that wherever we are, they’re always there. Maybe they’re just better than I think they are.”
Well, we know from another celeb couple that stars and the papz have a very special relationship!
Stanulis made sure to finish his story, which painted Kanye in an unsurprisingly vain light, sharing:
“So we walked out, again, I don’t know who’s who. If it’s someone you don’t recognize and I don’t know what your intentions are, technically, I’m supposed to walk in front to make sure he’s ok. He got mad at me for being in his shot. I’m like, ‘Are you serious?’ He was worried about me being in his shot for a TMZ video or Daily Mail video. Instead of saying thank you.”
That wasn’t all. In fact, the Kanye-est of Stanulis’ Kanye stories involved a stand off between the rapper and… a toy Elmo.
He shared:
“I get a call, we were doing 12-hour shifts. I had the night shift. I got a call from another cop I worked with saying, ‘We’ve got a problem. Kanye got mad, guess he got in a fight and he’s walking down the West Side Highway. Can you pick him up?’ So at this point, I’m driving a Toyota Tiguan, I’ve got baby seats in the back, and he’s walking down by 44th and West Side Highway and I’m like ‘Kanye, come on, get in.” So he’s like, ‘You’ve got to move the baby seats.’ I’m like, ‘Bro, we can do this one of three ways. One, you can get in the car and your friend can sit between the baby seats. Two, you can keep walking and I’ll meet you wherever you go because I’m not even working yet. Or three, have your friend move Elmo and get in the car.’ They got in the car.”
Ha! Again… believable.
The interview ended with Stanulis playing a “name that celeb” game, during which he revealed Leonardo DiCaprio was the “nicest” celeb he’s worked with; Robert Downy Jr. was the “biggest partier”; and Kanye was the “neediest,” “moodiest,” and “hardest working” celeb — as well as the celeb Stanulis would never work with again.
What do U think about these stories, Perezcious readers? Totally Kanye, right??
Click here to listen to the full interview and share your thoughts in the comments.
[Image via Instar/WENN]
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