The security guard who went viral for singing along at a Taylor Swift show was reportedly fired following the event.
Calvin Denker, the security guard who went viral online after footage was posted of him singing along at a recent Taylor Swift “Eras” show, was reportedly fired after the event. The clip first emerged in June, showing Denker singing along to Swift’s performance in Minneapolis while he worked as a security guard.
The clip, in which Denker is singing along to Swift’s 2019 hit “Cruel Summer,” went viral across social media. But now the former security guard has revealed that he lost his job shortly after the show.
In an update posted to TikTok, Denker says he applied for the job with the security company BEST in the hopes that he would have the chance to work at one of Swift’s “Eras” tour performances.
The company seemingly took no issue with him singing along to the music — but when Denker passed out notes to crowd members during Swift’s Minnesota show, asking them to take a photo of him while the singer was standing onstage in the background. That request violated the rules outlined by BEST that allegedly do not permit employees to take pictures or videos while on shift.
But Denker disagrees, stating, “I never took my own phone out, and above all else, I made sure that Taylor Swift was safe, and all the fans had a good time.” Still, it’s a reasonable expectation that a security company like BEST is unlikely to permit employees to ask for photos or videos during a job.
Denker also says he was fired from Ed Sheeran’s Bank Stadium show on August 12, but “the HR woman who called me wasn’t able to articulate what exactly I did wrong.” However, he admits that, again, he was asking concert attendees for photos.
He says that while he offered to delete his TikTok account to get his job back, Denker claims he has yet to receive a response from the company. He ended his post by stating he holds “no grudges” against the company for terminating his employment and urges fans not to send “hate” their way over the incident.
Oddly, this is the second time a member of security has gone viral at a Taylor Swift concert during her “Eras” tour. In May, footage of security guard Davis Perrigo singing along to Swift’s track “Style” at a performance in Nashville went viral, although Perrigo says he was only “reprimanded by Taylor’s security” for “going too hard; I needed to take it down a notch.” Perrigo also admitted he became a security guard to see one of her shows in Nashville.
Taylor Swift recently wrapped up the first US leg of her tour and confirmed that “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” will release on October 27, 2023, on the ninth anniversary of the original 2014 album.