Actress Ellie Kemper apologizes for participating in gala with ‘racist’ and 'elitist’ past

By Paulina Villegas
June 7, 2021 at 11:39 p.m. EDT

The ritual was rich with symbolism. A secret board of local White elites would choose a man to play the role of the “veiled prophet,” who in turn would pick a “queen of love and beauty” among the gala attendees.

Attired in a frothy ball gown and lush tokens, such as a tiara or pearls, the chosen young lady would then be paraded in front of St. Louis’s elite society, marking a celebration of her social debut as well as social status, power and wealth.

In 1999, 19-year-old Princeton University student Ellie Kemper participated in the century-old tradition and was crowned as the queen of love and beauty in the debutante ball hosted by the Veiled Prophet Organization — a secretive and exclusive society run for decades by wealthy White families.

After photos of the ceremony surfaced last week, prompting a backlash, the “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” actress offered a public apology on Monday in a statement posted to her Instagram account.

-snip-

Actress Ellie Kemper apologizes for participating in "racist" debutante ball

BY ZOE CHRISTEN JONES
JUNE 8, 2021 / 7:11 AM / CBS NEWS

Actress Ellie Kemper has apologized for participating in a controversial ball when she was 19 years old. Photos of Kemper at the Veiled Prophet Ball recently resurfaced on social media, and people quickly criticized the St. Louis organization's "racist" past and connections to the white supremacy.

"The century-old organization that hosted the debutante ball had an unquestionably racist, sexist, and elitist past," Kemper said in a statement posted on Instagram on Monday. "I was not aware of this history at the time, but ignorance is no excuse. I was old enough to have educated myself before getting involved."

Kemper, who is best known for her comedic roles in "The Office" and the Netflix series "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," was lambasted on social media when users recently brought up her participation in the ball. Kemper was crowned the "Queen of Love and Beauty" at the event in 1999, which was touted as a debutante celebration combined with the spirit of a Mardi Gras parade.

Twitter users brought up the group's history in St. Louis, including the fact that it did not have any Black members until 1979, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. According to a 2014 Atlantic article, the secret society was originally created as "a response to growing labor unrest in the city, much of it involving cooperation between white and black workers," and was intended to use heavy symbolism to remind both lower and upper class people of where they stood.

-snip-