Ellie Kemper Wasn’t a KKK Princess

Misbar's investigation found that these tweets are referring to the Veiled Prophet Ball, which takes place in St. Louis, Missouri. Every year, a secretive inner circle picks one woman to be the Queen of Love and Beauty. In 1999, that person was Ellie Kemper. 

However, to call Ellie Kemper a “KKK Princess” is incorrect. While she was named Queen of Love and Beauty at the Veiled Prophet Ball, the event has nothing to do with the KKK. In fact, the festival started before the KKK was started in the first place. The titular character is from Lalla Rookh, a poem that was popular at the event’s creation. While the Wikipedia article’s picture of a Veiled Prophet resembles that of a Ku Klux Klan member, that picture was drawn in 1878.

Here is a more recent photo from 2015, featuring the Veiled Prophet as well as the Queen of Love and Beauty.

That’s not to say there hasn’t been a history of racism at the VP Ball. When it was founded, Jewish-Americans and Black people were forbidden from attending. However, both have been allowed to join since the 1970s.