Updated October 30, 2:45 p.m. — A Saint Luke's East Hospital nurse who dressed in blackface is no longer employed by the hospital.
Less than a week after NBC host Megyn Kelly was fired for defending blackface on her morning show, a user took a screenshot of Shelbi Elliott-Heenan's Facebook post — a photo of herself and a man in blackface, dressed as Beyoncé and Jay-Z.
A classmate from Raymore Peculiar High School identified the man as Jasmond Heenan, Elliott-Heenan's husband, who works for Costco Wholesale in Independence. Heenan could not immediately be reached Tuesday.
Elliott-Heenan declined KCUR's request for comment.
The hospital, where Elliott-Heenan worked as a registered nurse, denounced the incident and launched an investigation Monday afternoon. By late morning Tuesday, spokesperson Laurel Gifford told KCUR Elliott-Heenan was no longer a Saint Luke's employee.
"Saint Luke's is deeply committed to our culture of diversity and inclusion," Gifford said in a statement. "It is fundamental to who we are as an organization and we vigorously protect it on behalf of all our patients and employees and expect those who represent us to do the same."
Editor's note: This story was updated with the hospital's actions and the man's name.
Andrea Tudhope is a reporter for KCUR 89.3. Email her at andreat@kcur.org, and follow her on Twitter @_tudhope.
