Editors Note: This article has been updated since its original publishing. There was a mistake with the total number of members who have resigned to date.
Since last week, the all-female Mardi Gras Super Krewe, the Mystic Krewe of Nyx, has lost dozens of riders after their captain posted a controversial image on social media. And now the parade faces dozens of more losses from riders and lieutenants alike.
Julie Lea, Nyx captain, posted an image of two children with the hashtag “All Lives Matter” on the official Krewe of Nyx Instagram account last week, and has since come under fire. After the post went viral on social media, Krewe of Nyx riders and fans have demanded Lea’s resignation.
Lea apologized for the post, claiming she was unaware of the meaning of “All lives matter.” Since her apology protests calling for her resignation have taken place over several days, with over 50 members gathering outside the club’s headquarters this past weekend. As of June 8, NOLA.COM is reporting 27 float lieutenants are demanding that Lea steps down from her position as captain in the parade.
“The signed lieutenants will be resigning from the Krewe of Nyx and our float members will resign as well if these changes are not adopted.” The email to Lea from her float lieutenants reads. You can see the full letter sent to Lea, and her response shared from former Nyx member Heather Haebe below.
In the lieutenant’s proposal to Lea and the Krewe’s Board, they asked for 5 viable changes, including Lea resigning as the Captain of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx and Board of Directors. In addition, they requested for a few other changes that would make the organization more equal, rather than one sole leader – which Lea acts as at this moment.
In Lea’s response letter per her lawyer, it is said that that the “Mystic Krewe of Nyx did not become the largest parading Krewe in New Orleans Mardi Gras due to an incompetent leadership team” and that Lea would not “succumb to bullying demands for her to immediately resign as the Captain of this organization.”
For those wondering why the Krewe did not come together to remove her themselves, it is written in the Krewe’s bylaws that Lea is the sole Krewe Captain/President and is a “permanent position.” The bylaw also states that the “Krewe Captain/President cannot be removed from office by the Board of Directors, nor from the membership.”
Lea co-founded Nyx in 2012 as a female-only krewe. The parade has grown into the largest parade in terms of membership since launching in 2012.
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