Ellie Kemper 'Canceled' by Twitter Over DECADES-OLD Party

[JRCF29 8,152]

Ellie Kemper, star of sitcoms The Office and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, is the latest celebrity to fall victim to the Twitter mob, over a 1999 appearance at the Prophet Ball, an organization which, while formed as a whites-only club in the late 19th century, had not had such a policy for decades before Kemper appeared as a teenager. 

Some social media users have claimed that Kemper is a "KKK Queen," despite no evidence that the Bridesmaids actress has any affiliations with the centuries-old hate group.

Kemper has not addressed the controversy herself or through her reps.

 

[Squeeshy Keety 9,908]

The way this thread goes out of its way to condone the ball and her participation in it

[The Child 18,994]

Lmao I’m sorry but it is still a KKK contest.

[Jose P 23,341]

You really thought you were doing something with this huh

[Agunimon 20,368]

Twitter cancelations huh. 

[GagaSine 7,464]

Some further insights if anyone cares

"While Sauer said she does not believe Kemper was entirely blameless by participating in the Veiled Prophet Ball, given that its racist history had been widely written about by then and the changes to the organization were merely "cosmetic," she acknowledged that Kemper was a "product of the environment" she grew up in.

Being presented at the ball as a young woman was like looking forward to your 16th birthday for girls who belonged to the rich white families of St. Louis, Sauer said.

"She probably just accepted that as part of her life," she said.

[Sauer] learned of the organization's discriminatory and elitist practices and the economic impact it had on the city.

ACTION had been protesting against the major companies over their refusal to hire Black men. But when activists realized that many of the Veiled Prophet members were also the heads of major banks and corporations, they began picketing the Veiled Prophet events as a form of protest.

"The people who ran the Veiled Prophet were really the power structure of the city of St. Louis. They were the people who had the jobs to offer," Sauer said. "The racism of Veiled Prophet organization became clear when you look at what they did and who they employed in their companies."

The private group also had the city's support, Sauer said. The ball was held at a city-owned auditorium until the mid-'70s and the event always had a heavy police presence, all at the city's expense."

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/activist-veiled-prophet-ball-ellie-kemper

Even as recently as 2015, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) began the #UnveilTheProfit week of action to call out the group and its racist ties. "The VP's survival is a testament to the power of the St. Louis 1% and the insidiousness of racism in St. Louis. That is precisely why we are choosing to target them," MORE organizer Molly Gott said in a previous interview with Feministing. "The VP org at this point is a symbol of how the 1%, mostly white, maintain their power and uphold white supremacy. It is the role of anti-racist white people in orgs like the VP to talk to other white people and organize to end racist institutions that are upholding white supremacy. These organizations are oppressive in their foundations, and reform will just cover that up. If people inside the organization are just realizing that the organization is part of this system, then they need to pick a side. Continued participation with the group is perpetuating these systems of oppression."

https://www.popsugar.com/celebrity/ellie-kemper-veiled-prophet-ball-explained-48351646/

Personally I don't think she needs to apologize or be attacked, but I think it's dangerous to sweep this aside as dramatic or nothing, we need to acknowledge the way racism is literally built into the structure of American society 

[HuffsAhoy 7,433]

Whether or not it was 22 years ago doesn't change the fact she still went to an event like this. It was a poor choice and she needs to own up to her severe error in judgement. And I didn't see anything in those articles or tweets that are legit "cancelling"; ya'll throw that word around too much. 

[GagaSine 7,464]

Also boo at this purposefully obfuscating summary in the OP 

[Chromatography 9,549]

it was an absolutely vile thing to attend and to take part in, but i always find it a little amusing how (white) people drag people like this through the mud when 22 years ago, at the age of 16, they probably would have ignorantly attended the same thing. 

[PEZ 5,936]

Also since when is being called out by a few tweets "cancelling"? I thought cancelling was actual consequences, like losing your job or endorsement deals, not social media posts that she might not even see or hear about

[GagaSine 7,464]

2 minutes ago, PEZ said:

Also since when is being called out by a few tweets "cancelling"? I thought cancelling was actual consequences, like losing your job or endorsement deals, not social media posts that she might not even see or hear about

Cancel culture is any criticism or analysis that isn't 100% flattering and forgiving apparently 

[GagaSine 7,464]

3 minutes ago, Chromatography said:

it was an absolutely vile thing to attend and to take part in, but i always find it a little amusing how (white) people drag people like this through the mud when 22 years ago, at the age of 16, they probably would have ignorantly attended the same thing. 

I mean I'm poor so I never would have been invited or allowed in the first place (except maybe as a waitress or kitchen scrub lol), nor would I have wanted to go 

Like somehow I dodged the bullet of attending white supremacist themed parties my entire life, it can't be hard because I'm very lazy 

[Chlorine Sevigny 45,604]

The fact that it went viral because of misinformation is truly par for the course this day and age. 

It's not the KKK and debutante balls like that are extremely common in the south. 

[Justin Drew Bieber 25,317]

When I saw “DECADES” old in the title I was expecting like 70 years, not 22 years

[Chromatican 4,046]

20 minutes ago, Justin Drew Bieber said:

When I saw “DECADES” old in the title I was expecting like 70 years, not 22 years

Me too. And this is actually a really bad look and something she should address. Going to a KKK Ball is worse than an off color tweet from 11 years ago.