- Steve Stanolis is a filmmaker who worked in security for Kanye West in 2016.
- He wants to put his time working with the rapper behind him and make a documentary to do so.
- Stanolis said that “15 Days With Kanye” would be the final word on his time working for West.
Making a tell-all documentary about a story she spent years trying to escape might seem counterintuitive.
But when Google Alert discovered a 2022 article again linking Steve Stanulis to his former client Kanye West, now known as Ye, Stanulis decided to “just do it.”
And so he did. “15 Days With Kanye,” a documentary produced by Stanulis, along with Dolce Productions and Jennifer DiLandro, It debuted at the New York City International Film Festival in JanuaryWhere it won the Best Documentary Film Award.
from on me Vimeo.
A former police officer, Stanolis worked with Yee in 2016 as part of his security guards. However, a highly publicized dispute led to the job being quickly terminated after only 15 days. The New York Daily News reported That Stanolis was fired for talking to Yi’s then-wife Kim Kardashian while she was preparing to attend the Met Gala, though sources close to the couple have confirmed. Claim disputed to TMZ. Then Stanolis he told the Daily Mail that he didn’t “hit” Kardashian but introduced himself instead, after which he was left behind and told he wouldn’t be needed the next day after talking to her. He also spoke in the interview about the West not treating him with “respect”.
That was about seven years ago. Since then, the bodyguard-turned-film producer has helped lead Movies like 2022 “Monica” An intimate drama that premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. Even with a file Critically acclaimed indie And an ever-expanding resume, Stanolis feels he “can’t escape.”
Photographs of Stanolis standing Out club Brooklyn with ex Khloe KardashianTristan Thompson, traded in 2018. In 2021, named in a TikTok user hoax claiming that Stanulis had facilitated a secret meeting between the influencer and Ye (Stanolis sent him a cease and desist). His name also still appears in the neighboring media Ye, Like this post on 2022 Sports Manor who reported unsubstantiated rumors about Ye, Kim Kardashian, and NBA player Chris Paul. The piece had nothing to do with Stanolis but included an entire section on him anyway.
Throughout “15 Days With Kanye,” Stanolis and his friends and family insisted that he wanted to be free from the gravitational pull of celebrity controversy.
“You’re not going to get away with it no matter what you do, it’s going to be a part of you anyway,” Stanolis told Insider. “So cuddle him, put him to bed, and go from there.”
Stanolis after Kanye West in New York City in February 2016.
Raymond Hall/GC Images
Stanolis said his association with Kanye has influenced his career
It’s hard to reconcile Stanolis’ account of constantly being drawn into Ye’s orbit when he spoke voluntarily several times about his time working with the rapper, such as On “Hollywood Raw Podcast” in 2020.
Stanolis maintains he doesn’t call out the ex-gig for leverage and says in the documentary that he only started speaking out about the Met Gala controversy when he wasn’t promptly paid by his third-party employer.
When Stanolis made comments in the media about the Kardashian robbery in Paris, he told Insider he was speaking as a former police officer. He wasn’t trying to present “dirt” to the couple, but commented on whether or not he could have prevented it if he still explained it in detail.
“I’m not Batman,” Stanolis said.
West and Kim Kardashian, holding daughter North West, on a New York City street in February 2016, with Stannolis in the background.
Mark Piasecki/GC Images
He told Insider that for him the issue is about his reputation.
Stanolis said that “every time” he would do something, like “Monica” or his work 2020 movie “5th Borough” Conversations “You’ll always come back to Kanye and me”
“If I was trying to find an investor who didn’t know me, and they googled me, they’d be like, He’s not a filmmaker, he’s a fucking bodyguard,” Stanolis said.
While “15 Days With Kanye” may not recapture the entire narrative, it does provide some closure for Stanulis.
Many of the stories Stanolis tells on “15 Days With Kanye” are ones he’s told before and can be “recited” while “My Bills,” he told Insider. There are no exceptionally high stakes in the documentary, Stanolis said, and the film will not change anyone’s perception of Ye.
(It’s worth noting that in recent months, I did did more to discredit his legacy than Stanulis could ever do, primarily through Antisemitic comments In addition to his other problematic statements about slavery and his disturbing social media posts about his ex-wife and ex-boyfriend Pete Davidson).
West by Northwest in New York City in February 2016, with Stanolis in the background.
Michael Stewart/GC Images
It’s unclear if the documentary, which Stanolis has no concrete plans to release after screening at the New York City International Film Festival, will be able to recapture the story of a celebrity supernova challenge and bolstered by seven years of tabloid coverage.
A native of Staten Island and father of three, Stanolis’ life doesn’t seem to revolve around him being Kanye’s former bodyguard, but I understand where he’s coming from. The creation and release of the film marks a kind of closure, a final word on Stanolis’ own terms. Well maybe.
“Once this is over if we talk again, and I mention Kanye, I’ll give you anything,” Stanolis told me. Then I lose the bet.