Pop Culture

Kanye West's Former Bodyguard Claims He's Being 'Bullied' by Rapper, Threatens Lawsuit

Since 2016, Steve Stanulis has not been shy about his former employer, on multiple occasions calling Kanye the most difficult client he's had.

Kanye West attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
Image via Getty/David Crotty/Patrick McMullan
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Kanye West's tug-of-war with his former bodyguard Steve Stanulis continues, with Stanulis claiming West is a bully and threatening to take legal action against the rapper.

On Monday, Page Six obtained a legal response issued by Stanulis and his lawyers. In the document, Stanulis says he never signed a confidentiality agreement as West suggests. As a result, he and his legal team are prepared to counter-sue Kanye if he continues to further the narrative that Stanulis broke an NDA.

"As such, any efforts undertaken by your clients to enforce any purported ‘confidentiality agreement’ will be met with counterclaims, that will seek significant damages, along with court costs and legal fees," the response reads.

Stanulis' attorney Dmitriy Shakhnevich also gave a statement directly to Page Six in which he said his client is "being bullied here, and we will not stand for that."

The Kardashian-West family and Stanulis have had a long-standing feud. Since 2016, Stanulis has not been shy about his former employers, on multiple occasions calling Kanye the most difficult client he's had. This led Kim and Kanye to send Stanulis a cease and desist letter earlier this month. In the letter, the family claims Stanulis signed an NDA and was violating the rules by speaking about their personal lives. It went on to say that if this continues, they have the right to sue Stanulis for more than $10 million.

Stanulis insists he didn't sign any documents limiting him from speaking on his time as their employee. He also feels like the Kardashian-West family is trying to infringe on his First Amendment rights and ruin his new career as a director.

"I’m not going to let Kanye West and [his wife, Kim Kardashian, whose signature also appeared on the cease and desist] push me around just because they are rich and famous. I’m won’t be intimated by these two egotists!" he said to Page Six before revealing that he's developing a film about his experiences as a Hollywood bodyguard. "So if Kanye and Kim want to go to war bring it on—they aren’t the only ones with a strong legal team."

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