Wondering why
Ellie Kemper is trending on Twitter? I’ll tell ya why, because she has been linked to a pageant that allegedly has a very racist origin story.
Fans dug up an article by The Atlantic from 2014 that reveals she entered and won a debutante ball back in 1999 called the Veiled Prophet Ball when she was 19. The annual event is held in St. Louis and its name was changed to Fair Saint Louis in 1992.
The club itself allegedly has a history of racism as Black members were not allowed to join the organisation until 1979.
According to the article, it was founded by “wealthy white elites” back in 1877 and “emphasised the existing power structure.”
A 1999 photo of a young Ellie Kemper made the rounds on Twitter over Memorial Day weekend. Because of the photo, the actor, a Princeton University alum known for starring in “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and appearing in “The Office” and “Bridesmaids,” was accused of having ties to a white supremacist group. The picture, published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, showed a 19-year-old Kemper .
Updated: 12:25 ET, Jun 1 2021
ELLIE Kemper s fans demanded she respond to accusations she was the KKK queen at racist Veiled Prophet Ball as a teen.
The debutante ball was originally founded by white elitists and it excluded multiple racial groups, include Black communities, and it has been compared to the KKK by their costumes.
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She was just 19 years old at the timeCredit: Instagram/ Ellie Kemper
On Monday, Ellie began to trend on Twitter after a 1999 picture of her resurfaced online.
In the picture, the actress, who rose to fame for her role in The Office, was wearing a formal dress and had been named the Queen of the controversial St Louis Veiled Prophet Ball, where members wore KKK-style hoods.