{"id":555814,"date":"2021-06-07T16:06:42","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T20:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=555814"},"modified":"2021-06-07T16:06:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T20:06:44","slug":"elie-kemper-apologizes-for-participating-in-racist-sexist-debutante-ball-ignorance-is-no-excuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/elie-kemper-apologizes-for-participating-in-racist-sexist-debutante-ball-ignorance-is-no-excuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Elie Kemper Apologizes For Participating In \u2018Racist,\u2019 \u2018Sexist\u2019 Debutante Ball: \u2018Ignorance Is No Excuse\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/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%2Felie-kemper-apologizes-for-participating-in-racist-sexist-debutante-ball-ignorance-is-no-excuse%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=555814&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-1152533542.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>Actress Elie Kemper issued an apology, Monday, for taking part in the Veiled Prophet Ball in 1999, after allegations surfaced on social media that the ball was affiliated with racists, sexists, and the Confederacy \u2014 with some Twitter commentators even going so far as to call Kemper a \u201cKKK Princess\u201d for attending the ball more than two decades ago.<\/p>\n<p>Kemper noted, in her apology, posted to Instagram, that she did not know, in 1999, that the organization had a controversial history but admitted that \u201cignorance is no excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen 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,\u201d Kemper said. 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. I unequivocally deplore, denounce, and reject white supremacy. At the same time, I acknowledge that because of my race and my privilege, I am the beneficiary of a system that has dispensed unequal justice and unequal rewards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe strongly in the values of kindness, integrity, and inclusiveness,\u201d she added. \u201cI try to live my life in accordance with these values. If my experience is an indication that organizations and institutions with pasts that fall short of these beliefs should be held to account, then I have to see this experience in a positive light. I want to apologize to the people I\u2019ve disappointed, and I promise that moving forward I will listen, continue to educate myself, and use my privilege in support of the better society I think we\u2019re capable of becoming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kemper was crowned the \u201cQueen of Love and Beauty\u201d at the event in 1999. A Twitter user posted unearthed photos of Kemper wearing a white dress and long gloves \u2014 typical attire for a debutante ball \u2014 and claimed the event was \u201cput on by our local KKK.\u201d The allegation was repeated across social media. An activist coined the term \u201cKKK princess\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/imanibarbarin\/?sh=d6b26b14013f\">by tweeting that<\/a>, \u201cSo\u2026Ellie Kemper was a KKK princess??? And no one knew about it???\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another film critic claimed Kemper had successfully hidden a racist past.<\/p>\n<p>\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 Slate\u2019s Jon Negroni said on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>As the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/kkk-princess-former-office-actor-under-fire-over-debutante-ball-she-attended-two-decades-ago\">Daily Wire reported last week, however<\/a>, it does not appear that the Veiled Prophet Ball has a connection to the KKK.<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"11\">\n<p><em>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 \u201cLalla Rookh\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.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The event did not, however, admit black or Jewish attendees until 1979, according to Buzzfeed News, and \u201cone of the brothers instrumental in the ball\u2019s founding, was a former Confederate soldier,\u201d per the Daily Wire\u2019s report.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCivil rights activists during the 1960s and 1970s famously picketed and protested the ball and parade organized by the Veiled Prophet \u2014 a group consisting of wealthy white elites cofounded in 1878 by a former Confederate officer,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeednews.com\/article\/tasneemnashrulla\/ellie-kemper-apology-veiled-prophet-ball\">Buzzfeed noted<\/a>. \u201cThe group excluded Black and Jewish people until 1979.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><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>Actress Elie Kemper issued an apology, Monday, for taking part in the Veiled Prophet Ball in 1999, after allegations surfaced on social media that the ball was affiliated with racists, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2279503,"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-1152533542.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Elie Kemper Apologizes For Participating In \u2018Racist,\u2019 \u2018Sexist\u2019 Debutante Ball: \u2018Ignorance Is No Excuse\u2019","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555814","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-1152533542.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Elie Kemper Apologizes For Participating In \u2018Racist,\u2019 \u2018Sexist\u2019 Debutante Ball: \u2018Ignorance Is No Excuse\u2019","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555814","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=555814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2279503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}