Last week, Twitter exploded with the revelation that Ellie Kemper was a “KKK princess” at age 19, having participated in an event put on by an organization in her hometown that has a racist history. Now, she’s apologizing.
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Kemper served as the “Queen of Love and Beauty” at the Veiled Prophet Ball in 1999, a tradition held by a very old group initially founded in St. Louis, Missouri, as a secret society and intended to reinforce racist, classist norms.
This piece of her past has never been a secret, but it just happened to be something that caught fire on Twitter one day last week, and before long, Kemper was trending, alongside everything from accusations that she herself was basically part of the KKK to defenses that many southern traditions have racist roots that not everyone is aware of.
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For a while, the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt actor stayed silent but ultimately offered up a thoughtful apology via Instagram on Monday morning.
“When I was 19 years old, I decided to participate in a debutante ball in my hometown,” she wrote. “The century-old organization that hosted the debutante ball had an unquestionably racist, sexist, and elitist past. I was not aware of this history at the time, but ignorance is no excuse.”
Kemper went on to “denounce and reject white supremacy,” while stating that she is also aware of how she has benefited from it over her lifetime.
She also seemed to acknowledge her week-long silence on the matter, noting that it’s tempting to “tell yourself that your detractors are getting it all wrong” when you are “subject to internet criticism.”
But, she wrote, “I realized that a lot of the forces behind the criticism are forces that I’ve spent my life supporting and agreeing with.”
“I believe strongly in the values of kindness, integrity, and inclusiveness,” Kemper added. “I 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.”
She finished by officially apologizing for disappointing anyone, and promised to “listen, continue to educate [herself], and use [her] privilege in support of the better society I think we’re capable of becoming.”
*First Published: June 8, 2021, 7:10 am
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