Ellie Kemper Apologizes for Participating in Allegedly Racist Event
by EG
The Office star Ellie Kemper is expressing regret at participating in an event with allegedly racist leaninings when she was a teenager. Kemper says she didn't see the problem with the controversial debutante ball when she was 19, but that she should have known better. The controversy began when social media dug up a 22-year-old story from a St. Louis newspaper. Read on for details.
Via Page Six.
Ellie Kemper has issued an apology after photos surfaced showing the actress being crowned the queen of a ball with ties to white supremacy when she was a teen.
The “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” star, now 41, said she didn’t know the history of St. Louis’ Veiled Prophet Ball when she decided to participate, but isn’t making excuses for her past involvement.
“Hi guys – when I was 19 years old, I decided to participate in a debutante ball in my hometown. The century-old organization that hosted the debutante ball had an unquestionably racist, sexist, and elitist past,” she began her lengthy Instagram post.
Kemper explained that she was “not aware of the history” at the time but that “ignorance is no excuse.”
“I was old enough to have educated myself before getting involved,” she said.
A 1999 article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch names 19-year-old Kemper as queen of the historically racist event.
The Veiled Prophet Ball is a fair originally formed in 1878 by elites to honor the ritual of Mardi Gras, and is allegedly associated with white supremacy.
Each year, a person is chosen by a secret board of local elites to anonymously play the role of the Veiled Prophet, who would then choose a “Queen of Love and Beauty” to dance with and receive a gift, according to The Atlantic.
Get the rest of the story at Page Six.
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