{"id":548628,"date":"2021-06-01T17:06:22","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T21:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=548628"},"modified":"2021-06-01T17:06:25","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T21:06:25","slug":"kkk-princess-former-office-actor-under-fire-over-debutante-ball-she-attended-two-decades-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kkk-princess-former-office-actor-under-fire-over-debutante-ball-she-attended-two-decades-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018KKK Princess\u2019: Former \u2019Office\u2018 Actor Under Fire Over Debutante Ball She Attended Two Decades Ago"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fkkk-princess-former-office-actor-under-fire-over-debutante-ball-she-attended-two-decades-ago%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=548628&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-678893222.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p><span>Ellie Kemper, best known as Erin Hannon on \u201cThe Office,\u201d came under fire Monday afternoon after a Twitter user<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hannastasia\/status\/1399402815680811010?s=20\"> <span>revealed<\/span><\/a><span> she was once crowned the \u201cQueen of Love and Beauty\u201d at a long-running Missouri debutante ball. The user\u2019s incorrect claim that the event is \u201cput on by [St. Louis\u2019] KKK\u201d quickly spread, resulting in<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/ellie-kemper-veiled-prophet-ball-pageant-queen-twitter-response\/\"> <span>dozens<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/celebrities\/2021\/06\/01\/ellie-kemper-veiled-prophet-ball-queen-controversy-explained\/5288581001\/\"> <span>of<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/black-twitter-reacts-ellie-kemper-151240260.html\"> <span>headlines<\/span><\/a><span> that are likely to damage the actress\u2019 career.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Now known as the Fair St. Louis, local business leaders established the Veiled Prophet Ball in 1878 to help the city compete with Chicago\u2019s rapidly expanding commercial dominance and as a PR effort against striking workers. Inspired by the Irish poem \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/44781\/lalla-rookh\"><span>Lalla Rookh<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d by Thomas Moore and the revelries of Mardis Gras, the group invented a mythic society centered around a character known as the \u201cVeiled Prophet of Khorassan,\u201d a mystic traveler who would select the worthiest beauty from among the daughters of the city\u2019s elite.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Kemper would have been an obvious candidate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Before becoming an actress and starring in shows like \u201cThe Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt\u201d and films like \u201cBridesmaids,\u201d Kemper grew up in one of the wealthiest families in Missouri. The Kemper fortune was first established by her great-great-grandfather, banker and railroad magnate William Thornton Kemper Sr., and her father was chairman and CEO of the bank holding company, Commerce Bancshares.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In 1999, when she won the crown, Kemper was a 19-year-old freshman at Princeton University. The<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stltoday.com\/news\/archives\/ellie-kemper-from-the-queen-of-love-and-beauty-to-kimmy-schmidt\/collection_52b7a18b-d4e4-557d-9c39-70a2d4ed0554.html#4\"> <span>Post-Dispatch<\/span><\/a><span>\u2019s report on her win describes her athletic, academic, and altruistic qualifications as a national merit scholarship finalist, a field-hockey champion, and a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and the St. Louis Crisis Nursery.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Based on this and a 2014 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2014\/09\/fair-st-louis-and-the-veiled-prophet\/379460\/\"><span>Atlantic<\/span><\/a><span> story that never mentions the Klan and never claims the organization had any in-depth Confederate connection, the platform erupted with claims that Kemper was a \u201cKKK princess.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSo\u2026Ellie Kemper was a KKK princess??? And no one knew about it???\u201d<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/imanibarbarin\/?sh=d6b26b14013f\"> <span>tweeted<\/span><\/a><span> activist and Forbes contributor Imani Barbarin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Jon Negroni, a film critic who has written for Slate, Vulture, and the Huffington Post<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonNegroni\/status\/1399485200749383681?s=20\"> <span>said<\/span><\/a><span>, \u201cIt 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\u2019m bringing this up of course.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And sportswriter and former pro soccer player Zito Madu<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_Zeets\/status\/1399505666889465862?s=20\"> <span>posted<\/span><\/a><span>, \u201cEllie Kemper being a KKK princess is so random that I\u2019m not even sure where to begin with the questions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While the event has undeniable racism in its past \u2014 it didn\u2019t admit black attendees until 1979 \u2014 claims that the Veiled Prophet ball is connected to the KKK appear unfounded.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Twitter users<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_Zeets\/status\/1399507690246873088?s=20\"> <span>highlighted<\/span><\/a><span> a black-and-white 1878 newspaper drawing of the Veiled Prophet in a pointed hood as proof of the association. However, according to the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/ku-klux-klan-didnt-always-wear-hoods-180957773\/\"> <span>Smithsonian<\/span><\/a><span>, the KKK didn\u2019t adopt the hooded uniform until 1915. And a Post-Dispatch society report at the time<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Veiled_Prophet_Ball#Intentions\"> <span>described<\/span><\/a><span> the figure as wearing a red and green costume, not white.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Assertions that the ball is explicitly tied to the Confederacy also appear overstated. Al<\/span><span>onzo Slayback,<\/span><span> one of the brothers instrumental in the ball\u2019s founding, was a former Confederate soldier. T<\/span><span>he <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2014\/09\/fair-st-louis-and-the-veiled-prophet\/379460\/\"><span>Atlantic<\/span><\/a><span> report on which many Twitter users based their KKK accusations incorrectly stated that Charles was the Confederate soldier, but the story made no other Confederate connection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>member<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ellie Kemper, best known as Erin Hannon on \u201cThe Office,\u201d came under fire Monday afternoon after a Twitter user revealed she was once crowned the \u201cQueen of Love and Beauty\u201d &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2278825,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-678893222.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"\u2018KKK Princess\u2019: Former \u2019Office\u2018 Actor Under Fire Over Debutante Ball She Attended Two Decades Ago","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-548628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-678893222.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"\u2018KKK Princess\u2019: Former \u2019Office\u2018 Actor Under Fire Over Debutante Ball She Attended Two Decades Ago","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2278825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}