Kevin Spacey Accused of Racist Behavior on House of Cards Set

On top of accusations of sexual misconduct, Kevin Spacey is now being accused of racist behavior on the set of House of Cards.

Spacey "refused to acknowledge black team members" on the set and even used the n word, the U.K.'s Daily Mail is reporting.

The allegations come from Earl Blue, head of VIP Protective Services, which was hired to provide security on the House of Cards set for the show's first season, for which filming began in 2012. Blue is African-American, as are most of the guards his firm employs.

Blue told the Mail that at one point, when several black guards were watching the trailer for the show, he heard Spacey tell his personal security manager, "I don't want [n words] watching my trailer." When Blue complained, production staff told him "That's just the way [Spacey] is; we've got to keep him happy."

Spacey repeatedly refused to acknowledge black security personnel or shake their hands, according to Blue. On the first day on set in Baltimore, he said, the locations manager introduced him and one of his employees, Eric Lyles, to Spacey, along with a police officer.

'Kevin is standing right next to me," Blue told the Mail. "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.'" Lyles gave a similar account.

Blue said he always stationed himself near Spacey's dressing-room trailer, and whenever the actor left the trailer, he would lock the door, then go back to double-check it. Spacey often complained about the placement of security guards around the set, Blue added.

Blue said his company did a good job, but its $1.1 million contract was terminated in 2013. A production manager later told him that Spacey had announced, "I don't want [n words] on the set anymore," Blue told the Mail. "We were blown away. He was blown away," Blue said.

One source told the Mail that VIP Protective Services was let go because Spacey's trailer and the makeup trailer had been broken into, but Blue said there were no break-ins. Another source said he didn't recall racist behavior on Spacey's part, but the actor could be "temperamental." Media Rights Capital, which handles production of the Netflix show, declined comment to the Mail, which also attempted unsuccessfully to reach Spacey for comment.

Spacey was let go from the show, in which he played the unscrupulous President Frank Underwood, after the string of sexual misconduct allegations, which began with actor Anthony Rapp giving an account of Spacey trying to "seduce" him when Rapp was 14 and Spacey 26. Several House of Cards staffers were also among Spacey's accusers, as were actors who worked for him at the Old Vic theater in London.

Blue, who said his firm has had only occasional assignments after losing the House of Cards contract, intends to sue Spacey, according to the Mail.