Twitter Is Freaking Out After Ellie Kemper’s Prior Ties To Racist ‘Veiled Prophet Ball’ Resurface

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Ellie Kemper grabbed the Twitter spotlight yesterday after an old newspaper article about a 19-year-old Kemper being crowned the “Veiled Prophet Queen” in 1999 started making the rounds.

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The Veiled Prophet Ball is a very old event with historical ties to the Confederacy and was originally used to reinforce the supremacy of the rich, white ruling class in St. Louis, Missouri. The Daily Dot’s Gavia Baker-Whitelaw points out that “these days, many locals don’t know the originals and political connotations of the VP Ball and parade,” but that the organization has continued to clash with Black Lives Matter activists in recent years.

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Kemper’s prior association with the Veiled Prophet organization has never been a secret, but it’s one of those things that took a viral tweet in order for people to really take note.

ellie kemper being one of the kkk pageant queens is one of the most insane things i’ve ever read in my life https://t.co/9cN8uyPI5M

— ً (@wIwperkins) May 31, 2021

So was no one gonna tell me Ellie kemper aka kimmy Schmidt was crowned KKK queen in 1999 pic.twitter.com/QdHJ6wGZGv

— charlie (@dianahungerr) May 31, 2021

Exaggerations of her being a “KKK princess” have taken off, and many have drawn comparisons between the dark secrecy and mysticism shrouding the Veiled Prophet’s early history and Kemper’s role as a recovering cult member in Kimmy Schmidt.

The whole thing definitely calls for a deep dive, if learning about bizarre historical groups with origins steeped in racism and classism is your jam, but if you’re just here for the amusing tweets that have come out of this wild revelation, we’ve got you covered.