A security guard who went viral for singing along to Taylor Swift during a live concert was later fired, it has been reported.
Calvin Denker, who is based in Minnesota, worked for security company BEST.
In June, a clip of him singing along to Swift’s “Cruel Summer” received millions of views after it was shared to social media.
Denker had previously said he applied for the job with the hope that he’d be able to work at one of Swift’s gig. However, BEST reportedly does not allow its employees to take photos or videos while they’re working.
According to reports, Denker passed out notes to some attendees during Swift’s Minneapolis show, asking them to take a photo of him if Swift was in the background.
A few months after his viral moment, Denker announced in a TikTok video that he had been fired after working at Ed Sheeran’s Bank Stadium concert in Minneapolis on 12 August.
He revealed that he got into trouble after admitting that he had passed out notes to concertgoers and asked them to click his pictures.
“Beyond that, the HR woman who called me wasn’t able to articulate what exactly I did wrong because I didn’t do anything beyond asking for photos,” Denker claimed in the TikTok video.
The security guard said that he offered to delete his TikTok account if it meant he could keep his job, however, he never heard back from BEST.
“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,” he said.
In the video, Denker also asked his followers to not send “hate” messages to BEST as he really enjoyed his job.
“I still got to work one of the coolest concerts ever and I got to work it twice,” he said. “I hold no grudges against my employer.”
The Independent has contacted BEST for a comment.
In May, another Swift fan who failed to secure tickets to the singer’s Nashville show managed to get a job as a stadium security guard at the event.
Davis Perrigo, who is based in Nashville, went viral online after fans spotted him in front of the Nissan Stadium stage as he sang along to some of Swift’s hit tunes, including “I Knew You Were Trouble”.
Speaking to The Independent, Perrigo explained that when he couldn’t get Eras tour tickets, he thought of another way to see her concert: Working at the stadium.
“My dad used to work as a security guard when I was a kid, so I thought that was a good way to get into the concert,” he said. “Basically, getting hired at the job was just filling out a form online.”
Perrigo told CNN that he couldn’t document the event himself: “You’re really not supposed to be on your phone at all. So I don’t have many pictures from that night that I took.”
While the guard couldn’t take videos from the event himself, his appearance at the concert quickly went viral with many fans capturing footage of him. On TikTok, fellow Swifties praised him for singing along to Swift’s songs and knowing most of the words. They also confessed that they “swooned” over him that evening and called him “adorable”.
