Ellie Kemper is apologizing after photos of her being crowned as queen of a ball with ties to white supremacy as a teenager. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star, 41, said she didn’t know the history of St. Louis’ Veiled Prophet Ball when she decided to participate.
“Hi guys – when 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,” she began her post on IG.
Kemper explained that she was “not aware of the history” at the time but that “ignorance is no excuse.”