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Ellie Kemper is in hot water right now after images resurfaced from 1999 of her being crowned queen of St. Louis’ Veiled Prophet Ball— an organization which has been linked to white supremacy. While Kemper was crowned in 1999 when she was just 19-years-old, critics have claimed that the ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ star should be held accountable for her ties to the historically racist society. The ball, which is reported to have not allowed black members until 1979, catered only to the elite of St. Louis, and crowned Kemper as the Veiled Prophet queen.
The Veiled Prophet organization has a controversial past for not allowing black members to join, and tradition reportedly goes that whoever is crowned as the Veiled Prophet must wear a white robe and veil. While the event is still ongoing and now presented as a celebration of “community service efforts,” the background of excluding black members is not looked upon kindly despite the group’s claims to be dedicated to inclusion and diversity.
Kemper, who comes from an affluent background, has not commented on her involvement with the ball, but fans have taken issue with what the event represented while Kemper was the face of it in 1999. USA Today reports, “A 2014 article from The Atlantic highlighted the group's existence as a "response to growing labor unrest in the city, much of it involving cooperation between white and (Black) workers." The Atlantic article continued on to explain that many members of the Veiled Prophet historically had worked to maintain the status quo without moving away from segregation, with the event a representation of such.
Until Kemper comments on the ball and the pictures which have emerged it will be unclear her stance, but many people are frustrated by her lack of accountability on the topic. Film critic Jon Negroni tweeted, “it really is something that Ellie Kemper was the star of a tv show about a woman who leaves a racist cult and tries to rebrand herself while pretending it never happened. no reason why I’m bringing this up of course.” However, another wrote, “The Ellie Kemper misinformation is wild. No, she’s not a “KKK princess.” Read a bit of St. Louis history — like the history of every city everywhere, it is simply dark and complicated. Twitter trends are making all of us dumber, I swear to God.”
