Security on House of Cards set accuses Kevin Spacey of racism

A security company boss has accused Kevin Spacey of racism claiming the disgraced actor refused to shake hands with his predominantly black employees while on the set of House of Cards.

Earl Blue, 51, the head of VIP Protective Services, was hired by Knight Takes King Productions to manage on-set security during season one filming of the Netflix series in 2012 according to DailyMail.

He claims Spacey, who played lead character Frank Underwood in House of Cards, refused to acknowledge the black team members and even made racial slurs.

Actor Kevin Spacey attends The 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. Photo / Getty

Blue said a group of black security guards were watching the trailer for the show when he heard the actor tell his personal security manager: 'I don't want n***ers watching my trailer.'

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When Blue raised concerns with set managers about Spacey, who was referred to as 'The Powers That Be', he was told: 'That's just the way he is; we've got to keep him happy.'

And despite producers allegedly telling VIP Protective Services - who have provided security services for HBO in the past - that they were pleased with their work, their $1.1 million contract was not renewed.

Breaking his four-year silence, dad-of-three Earl, who plans to sue Spacey, claims the fallout resulted in his business, which employs 40 guards, losing millions of dollars in revenue.

One of his employees, supervisor Eric Lyles, 47, corroborated Blue's allegations and claimed Spacey also refused to shake his hand or acknowledge him.

The pair fear dozens more will have suffered discrimination at the hands of the Hollywood star, who has separately been accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen men.

Blue, from Annapolis, Maryland, is a married Navy veteran who served for 11 years before going into security. He said: 'I was a tremendous fan of the man but now I am disgusted by him.

'I lost faith that I am in the right job after the contract was terminated. I questioned myself for months. What could I have done differently?

Actor Kevin Spacey during The 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 30, 2016. Photo / Getty

'Then I came to the realization that I did everything I was supposed to do, I was just dealing with a racist man.

'I sat on it for four years because I believe in confidentiality but when it comes to the point where people are being harmed, enough is enough.

'I realized he was getting worse and worse.'

Blue says he knew he 'might have a situation' with Spacey on the first day of filming in Baltimore when he and Lyles were introduced to the actor.

He said: 'The locations manager wanted to introduce him to me and my supervisor for the company and then meet a police officer who was handling the police situation.

'So Spacey comes out of the trailer and the locations manager says, "Kevin, I just want to introduce you to the security team." He introduced me, the supervisor, and the policeman by name.

'Kevin is standing right next to me. He looks me up and down, looks at my supervisor up and down, and reaches across us to shake the hand of the police officer and then walks away.

'We are all standing there looking at each other like, "OK, that was awkward."

'From that point on we had a security officer posted outside of his trailer and my security force is predominantly African American.
'Every time he walked back he would look at this black officer but he wouldn't even speak.

'He never spoke to my security guards but he was talking to everyone else. He even talked to the location manager that tried to introduce us to start with.

Kevin Spacey speaks with members of the press on the red carpet during the Netflix's House Of Cards. Photo / Getty

'He talked to all the police officers, laughing and joking with them,' Blue said.

Blue's employee Lyles, a supervisor at VIP Protective Services who has worked in the industry for 17 years, also recalls the alleged incident.

He said: 'I always meet the stars and see what they're like, what their likes and dislikes are.

'When I went to meet Mr Spacey to say hello to him, I went to extend my hand to him to shake his and he didn't want to shake my hand.

As company boss, Blue says he would usually position himself next to the main talent, so he was stationed around 15 to 20 feet from Spacey's trailer.

He claims that every time the actor left to go on set, he would lock the door behind him and start to walk away before turning around and checking the door a second time.

Blue, who has a degree in Digital Media Forensics from John Hopkins University, said: 'He would look at me, walk back to his trailer and check to make sure the door was locked.

'Over the course of that day I started laughing at him. He did it every single time he left his trailer - at least a dozen times.

'He obviously had some uneasiness about me being near the trailer. I would smile at him and even speak, say "good morning" or "good afternoon." But he would never reply.

'I have experienced this before. I have been black my whole life and I can tell when a person is not looking at me as a person but they are looking at me as a color.

'They are coming to a conclusion about what type of person I am.

'But I'm there to do a job and it doesn't matter if you speak to me, I'm going to do that job. So we kept filming.'

Actors Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright attend Netflix's House of Cards For Your Consideration Q&A. Photo / Getty

Determined to do a good job, Blue claims he regularly changed the guard who was positioned outside Spacey's trailer - but the actor found other things to complain about.

Blue says Spacey raised various concerns with his personal security outfit, who acted as a go-between the actor and VIP Protective Services.
'He started nit-picking about the uniforms, so we changed the uniforms,' he said.

'Then he would have his security come over and ask about a guard: 'Why is that guard over there and not over here?'

'I spoke to the production manager and it was always the same thing; "That's just the way he is, we've got to make him happy."

When the contract came to an end in April 2013, Blue says he was called into a meeting with the location manager, business partner, and producer Iain Paterson.

He claims the representatives of Knight Takes King told him they were 'really pleased' with VIP Protective Services' handling of season one and that there were 'no complaints.'

'There was no theft or damage and they were pleased as punch with the work we had done,' Blue said.

But Blue says that after separate meeting between production company staff, where Kevin Spacey was present via a phone link, their contract was terminated.

He says a production manager later told him Spacey had announced over speaker that 'he did not want n***ers on his set anymore.'

He said: 'In the film industry we are a close knit group of people. One of the people called me and told me what Spacey had said.
'We were blown away. He was blown away.

'Two days later I got a call from Iain (Paterson). He was on the phone upset. He said Earl, "I have some bad news. Unfortunately we are going to have to part ways and not renew the contract."

Actor Kevin Spacey attends A Gala Night With Kevin Spacey. Photo / Getty

'I said, "What?" He said, "Unfortunately the contract is being terminated. We need to go in a different direction."

'In my contract there is a clause for remediation, so we are supposed to sit down and talk about it but he said, "Unfortunately Earl it is the powers that be."

'They cut us a check for the next two weeks even though we didn't work.

'I have been in the industry for almost 20 years. I worked on Oscar-nominated movies. My most recent projects include Marvel and Oprah Winfrey.

'But my projects have been few and far between since then. I have got commercials but no real substantial work.

'Since I left that show I have been operating at a loss.'

A former employee of Knight Takes King, who asked not to be named, said he has 'no particular recollection' of Spacey behaving in a racist manner towards security staff.

However, he said Spacey was a 'real a**hole' who was 'temperamental' on set and would 'get frustrated' if things didn't go his way.
He said the reason Earl's contract was severed was 'never explained,' adding: 'My understanding was Kevin Spacey wanted the company fired and wanted a new deal.

'It was never explained to me. It was just, "This is what's going on.''

Producer Iain Paterson, who went on to work on Stranger Things, declined to discuss the allegations but said VIP Protective Services's work was found to be 'unsatisfactory'.

He added: 'I have no idea about any of this. I can't help you.'

Netflix declined to comment and directed the inquiry to Media Rights Capital, who handle production for the show. MRC also refused to comment.

Attempts were made to reach Kevin Spacey or a representative for the actor for comment.

A source claimed: 'VIP Protective Services had the set security contract for season one, when break-ins occurred in both the make-up trailer and Kevin Spacey's trailer.

'The contract for set security was then awarded to Master Security for Season 2-6, yet VIP has continued to bid each year.'

Blue denied the claim and said: 'There were no break-ins. I pride myself on our service and integrity so to hear these lies has struck a cord. No reason was given for terminating the contract.'