Rapper Kanye West and his wife, TV personality, Kim Kardashian. Photo / AFP
Rapper Kanye West and his wife, TV personality, Kim Kardashian. Photo / AFP
The bodyguard fired by Kanye West for reportedly chatting up Kim Kardashian has hit back at the rapper, calling him "the most self-absorbed person" on earth, and that working for him was "traumatic".
In an interview with the Daily Mail Online, former Chippendale dancer Steve Stanulis, denied he had hit on the reality star, declaring, "Kanye needs to chill the f*** out."
The 42-year-old former NYPD officer told the website he was sacked minutes after West saw him approaching his wife at the door of their Presidential suite of New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel on the night of the annual Met Gala earlier this week.
But Stanulis, who had worked for West on multiple occasions, says his firing followed his decision to go up to the couple's suite to ask Kardashian about their travel plans for the Met Gala, which he believed had been altered.
"I was walking [past] and the door was open and I happened to see Kim," he told the website.
Within minutes he was told by a West handler that his services were no longer required.
Bodyguard and former Chippendale dancer Steve Stanulis. Photo / Getty Images
"They just left me and I had been waiting for them all day as their security," he said.
Asked if he had been flirting with Kim Kardashian, he stated: "Even if I wanted to, I never got the opportunity because it happened so fast. Maybe it was a misunderstanding."
The sacking followed an earlier incident in February when the bodyguard was cautioned for talking to Kardashian during New York Fashion Week.
Stanulis said he had introduced himself to Kardashian, just to say he would be "looking after her".
He was soon told not to "get too close" to the star.
Stanilus told the website he should never have worked for West and Kardashian after that incident, but he needed the money to support his wife and three children.
"There is a right way and wrong way to talk to people," he said.
"Just because you have status, doesn't give you the right to talk to people in a certain way. I would go to a restaurant with him and watch him to make sure nobody was bothering him. Not once was I offered a glass of water or a soda. That was never in his mindset."
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Photo / AFP
He said he had found working for the rapper "traumatic" and was amazed at West's insecurities.
"I had heard through the grapevine that Kanye was tough to deal with and he went through a lot of security," he said.
"I was told before I took the work that I had to be thick skinned and prepared for anything because the littlest thing could trigger him."
He said he should have decided not to work for the Wests again, after his experiences of last February where he wasn't even thanked for his 10 days of security work.
"I took Kanye and the two babies to the airport. He never said, 'Good job, thank you, I appreciate it' ... nothing.
"He just left me standing there. I wanted to spit on the floor as that was how annoyed I was."
Stanilus said he didn't understand how West's staff put up with him. "I don't know how people can work like that 24/7," he said.
"People like his handlers make excuses for him, but there is no excuse for that."
He summed up his time with West as: "Forgettable, traumatic, not worth it and disappointed."
He added: "I didn't hit on Kim. Kanye has so much in his life. He should be thankful and be grateful for people who work so hard to keep him safe and happy."
