Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines for March 17
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Kanye West’s ex-bodyguard is ready to share his side of the story.
Steve Stanulis, whose work for the hip-hop artist lasted for a mere two weeks in 2016, is working on a documentary about his whirlwind year, titled "15 Days with Kanye."
The former NYPD cop told Fox News Digital he wanted to set the record straight as his brief gig has followed him since the infamous firing.
"It’s something I always get dragged back into," he explained. "When Kim’s robbery [in Paris] happened, I suddenly became the go-to guy in terms of sharing my thoughts about the situation and how it could have been prevented. And then one night I was at a club and I walked out around the same time Tristan Thompson came out.
"There were paparazzi outside and the next day, it was all over that we were hanging out. … It’s been going on for a while," he continued. "The more I try to bury it, the more it comes back. So I want to finally address the elephant in the room."
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Steve Stanulis, now an actor and producer, is working on a documentary about his time working security for Kanye West. (Charles Eshelman/Getty Images)
Stanulis said he has no doubt West is aware of the upcoming project, which is currently in production. The announcement came amid Netflix’s debut of "Jeen-yuhs," its docuseries about the star.
As of publication date, reps for West, 44, and his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, 41, didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for comment.
West and Stanulis have a tumultuous past. In 2016, the performer threatened the former guard with a $30 million lawsuit, claiming that Stanulis had signed a confidentiality agreement. At the time, a spokesperson for West told Page Six, "This sad, parasitic maniac has violated every basic human tenet of decency with his story of lies. As such, the Wests will explore all legal means at their disposal to silence this nonsense."
In response, Stanulis joked, "the scary thing is I only have $28 million."
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Kanye West was recently the subject of a Netflix docuseries. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
"But no, it’s not that I didn’t sign it or refused to sign it," he claimed. "… Myself and all the other security never got presented one. So it’s not like I had a motive. I just never signed one. … I would’ve totally signed one if I got presented one."
According to the outlet, the two have publicly sparred for years over the alleged contract. In 2020, Kardashian and West fired a ceased and desist letter to Stanulis after they said he made "false and defamatory" statements during an appearance on the Hollywood Raw podcast, which also breached their confidentiality agreement, TMZ reported.
According to the outlet, the former couple threatened to sue Stanulis for at least $10 million for breaching their confidentiality deal if he were to do it again. However, his publicist at the time told the outlet, "no breach of any confidentiality agreement was done. My client went on a podcast to promote his new film, and old stories that were already out there were brought up."
In 2021, Stanulis alleged on the "Domenick Nati Show" that someone forged his signature on a nondisclosure agreement to "cover their a--" and that he himself never signed one.
Stanulis insisted that his upcoming tell-all "isn’t going to change your perception of Kanye."
"There’s no person that’s going to watch this film, whether they’re a fan of his or not a fan of his, that’s going to say, ‘I don’t like him anymore’ or ‘I can’t believe he’s done this,’" said Stanulis. "Everything we discuss in the documentary is stuff people kind of already know. And it’s done in a very entertaining way. It was 15 days with Kanye – that’s what it was."
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Steve Stanulis worked security for the stars after he was injured as an NYPD cop. (Courtesy of Steve Stanulis)
From a security standpoint, Stanulis was asked if Kardashian’s new boyfriend, Pete Davidson, has anything to be worried about. Amid West’s public criticisms of the "Saturday Night Live" star on Instagram, some have wondered if the rapper had crossed a line or if his die-hard fan base would take matters into their own hands out of loyalty.
Recently, West stirred up controversy over his music video for "Eazy," which appeared to show a cartoon version of the 28-year-old being kidnapped, tied up and buried alive.
"It’s all social media drama," Stanulis said in his estimation. "Pete is high-profiled where, God forbid, if something did happen, who do you think they’re going to point fingers to? As much street clout Kanye has, or whatever you want to call it, he’s not stupid… And Davidson is certainly not Pete the Plumber who might have more to worry about [in terms of security]. I think it’s all social media drama, absolutely."
West’s ex Julia Fox recently insisted to TMZ that West is "harmless."
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Steve Stanulis weighed in on the feud between Kanye West and Pete Davidson (Getty Images)
"I just think that’s his artistic creative expression," said Fox, 32. "I know it’s aggressive, but I really don’t… I think if it really came down to it, I don’t think Kanye would hurt a fly."
Fox has since backtracked on her initial comments, noting she hasn't been following West's feud with Davidson on social media.
"I would like to point out that I had not seen the latest Instagram posts at the time of this video," Fox said in a since-deleted Instagram post, TMZ reported. "Believe it or not I have a life and a son, and I don't have google alerts for this man!"
"I thought this question was in reference to the music video," the "Uncut Gems" star further clarified.
Julia Fox and Pete Davidson posed for Paper magazine in 2019. (Photo by Dominik Bindl/WireImage)
The music video itself has garnered criticism, with many calling it "disturbing," "terrifying," stating it's "not art" and "not ok." Outside of the video, Kardashian has also said West's social media posts have created "misinformation regarding [their] private family matters and co-parenting," ultimately causing her "emotional distress."
West was also recently suspended from Instagram for 24 hours. In addition to Davidson, West has used the social media platform to publicly attack Trevor Noah and D.L. Hughley. A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Instagram, told Fox News Digital at the time that content from West’s recent posts has been deleted due to a violation of Instagram's policies on hate speech, harassment and bullying.
Meanwhile, Stanulis shared that working for West was his last gig as security for the stars. Stanulis was allegedly fired after West accused him of trying to chat up his wife at the time.
"You would really have to convince me on doing it," he said about becoming a bodyguard again. "And I think the answer would still be ‘no.’ I was accused of going out with a bang – no pun intended. But I guess I did go out with a bang as far as [the work] was concerned. … But I was always a professional."
Stanulis said he had a message for West if the two ever sat down and hashed out their differences.
Julia Fox, who briefly dated Kanye West, called the rapper "harmless." (Getty Images)
"Treat everybody with respect," he said. "The people you meet on your way up, you’re gonna meet on your way down, and vice versa. Today’s PA could be tomorrow’s Spielberg. … Sometimes you just gotta step it up and fight for yourself. Because if you don’t, you could get trampled very quickly."
Kardashian filed for divorce from West after nearly eight years of marriage, court records showed in February 2021. The move brought an impending end to one of the most-followed celebrity unions of the 21st century.
The couple began dating in 2012 and had their first child in 2013. West proposed later that year using the giant screen at the empty waterfront ballpark of the San Francisco Giants, and the two married May 24, 2014, in a ceremony at a Renaissance fortress in Florence, Italy.
The couple share four children: North, 8, Saint, 6, Chicago, 4, and Psalm, 2. It was the first marriage for West and the third for the reality TV star.
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Rapper Kanye West (left) and TV personality Kim Kardashian attend "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology" Costume Institute Gala Balmain after-party at Gilded Lily on May 2, 2016, in New York City. This was the year that Steve Stanulis was fired. (Michael Stewart/Getty Images)
The unraveling of the marriage came after the September announcement that "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" was coming to an end in 2021 after 14 years.
Kardashian is a Los Angeles-area lifer, but West is from Chicago and spends much of his time, including many of the later months of the marriage, at his ranch in Wyoming. West has said he wanted his children with him there.
West is known for being outspoken on social media. In one July 2020 tweet, which has since been deleted, West said he had been trying to divorce Kardashian, that her mother Kris Jenner was a tyrant and that the family was trying to force him into psychiatric treatment.
Kardashian responded with a statement on Instagram at the time, urging people to have compassion for West as he struggled with mental health.
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Kim Kardashian shares four children with Kanye West. (Gotham/GC Images)
"He is a brilliant but complicated person who on top of the pressures of being an artist and a black man, who experienced the painful loss of his mother, and has to deal with that pressure and isolation that is heightened by his bi-polar disorder," Kardashian said in 2020. "Those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words some times do not align with his intentions."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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