A security guard who worked the Taylor Swift Eras tour has revealed how he was fired after an incident where he asked fans to take photos of him during the show.
Calvin Decker, from Minneapolis, worked security during one of Swift's Eras shows in June at the US Bank Stadium. He had applied for the role in order to attend a Swift concert without having to pay for tickets.
Decker then went viral after a fan filmed him singing along to Swift's 2019 hit Cruel Summer. Decker was stationed with his back to Swift's show, obligated to look forward and never towards the stage as part of his security responsibilities. Being center stage, that was obviously a difficult commitment to make. But it is one the security guard adhered to.
However, while Decker was having the time of his life jamming out to Cruel Summer, his bosses were seemingly less than impressed with his actions.
In a TikTok video, Decker explained, “After night one, I was realizing how close Taylor Swift was getting to me, so I really wanted to get a photo to document it.
"So I handed down these little pieces of paper that said I wasn’t allowed to have my phone out, but if Taylor Swift comes right behind me, please take a photo of me and text it to my number. And I handed this out to a couple of people in the front row for night two and they were really kind and really sweet about it.”
The TikTok of Decker singing was not in fact recorded by a woman he passed a note to, the security guard confirmed. But in an updated video posted this month, Decker revealed that the company that hired him, Best Crowd Management, fired him due to the breaking of a rule that prohibits staffers from taking photos with performers. Decker said Best Crowd Management took issue with his handing out notes to audience members asking to be sent photos that he “made my way into.”
“Beyond that, the HR woman who called me wasn’t able to articulate exactly what I did wrong," Decker explained, via Variety,
"Because I didn’t do anything beyond asking for photos, which is what happens at any other concert, with the only exception being that I made sure I got any that I was included in.
“Every photo of me from that night was from behind the barricade like any other photo from a fan would be. 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. As long as I was at that concert, I was doing my job.”
Decker offered to delete his TikTok post, but was told by a Human Resources staff member at Best that they would get back to him. However, they never responded to his offer and still had him scheduled to work an Ed Sheeran concert at US Bank Stadium a month later.
“A couple of managers talked to me just to make sure that I wouldn’t be making any videos, but a lot of them were really cool and willing to give me a second chance,” Decker revealed. After his seven-hour shift was over, Decker was then approached by HR and officially fired, despite having already assigned him multiple future shifts.
Despite his treatment by Best, Decker wishes no ill will towards his former employer and has urged his followers not to send any "hate" their way.
