Julie Lea, the controversial captain of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx, didn’t appear at the New Orleans City Council meeting on May 16, when the parading organization she’d founded in 2011 was cut from the Carnival lineup. Nor did she speak to the press immediately after the announcement.
Before the council voted to eliminate Nyx, council member JP Morrell declared that the reasons weren’t political. But it was undeniable that a political decision by Lea four years earlier had led to the meltdown of the 3,500-member, all-female superkrewe.
In a last-ditch effort, Nyx lawyer Doug Sunseri told the City Council that if the Nyx parade were allowed to continue, Lea would step down as captain, with new leadership taking the reins. But the council wasn’t swayed, voting unanimously to nix Nyx.
Lea remained the leader of the krewe from its bright beginning to its bitter end.
Julie Lea, founder and captain of the Krewe of Nyx
Over the course of reporting on the Nyx’s demise, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune regularly asked to interview Lea, without success. But in the days after the council voted unanimously to remove the parade, Lea spoke at length to WDSU’s Aubry Killion, sometimes tearfully revealing her regrets and pleading for forgiveness.
During the eight-minute television segment, Lea appeared in a glittering pink blouse, reflecting the krewe’s signature color. She told Killion that she hadn’t spoken in defense of her krewe at the City Council meeting, on the advice of her lawyer. But she said, “I don’t feel like it would have made a difference.”
As Morrell stated during the meeting, Nyx lost its spot because it employed too few marching bands in 2024, and had used special throws to advertise for membership, which is a violation of the Mardi Gras code’s anti-commercialization rules. In general, Morrell said, the krewe wasn’t living up to New Orleans parading standards.
Lea told Killion that she could prove the krewe had arranged for the proper number of bands, and she didn’t know who’d distributed the membership throws.
Killion questioned Lea about lingering accusations that the krewe had mismanaged membership dues. Point by point Lea defended the salary she received as captain, a Lakeview property the krewe rented, and the cost of producing the once-massive parade and ball. Plus, she described the lawsuits leveled against the organization by former members.
Members of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx protest on Saturday, June 6, 2020 near their Mid-City headquarters.
At the heart of Killion’s interview was the polarizing phrase that Lea posted on the krewe’s social media site in 2020, after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. As the slogan “Black Lives Matter” became a rallying cry across the nation, Lea, a former police officer, posted a photo of a Black child and White child at play, captioned “All Lives Matter.”
Many members of the krewe viewed the post as a rebuttal of “Black Lives Matter.” In the days after, despite Lea’s apology, there was a mass resignation of thousands of Nyx sisters, as they were known. Almost overnight, Nyx became a skeleton krewe. Subsequent parades were much smaller, less well attended events.
Lea explained to Killion her understanding of the meaning of the phrase “All Lives Matter” and how it had backfired. “My heart was in the right place. My message was just wrong,” she said.
Though Lea said she supports "African American people, absolutely,” she said her view of Black Lives Matter hasn’t changed. Asked if she supports the movement, she said, “No, I don’t.”
Members of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx protest on Saturday, June 6, 2020 near their Mid-City headquarters.
The saga of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx is ironic. Thirteen years ago, Lea, representing roughly 200 women, received approval from the City Council for a new parade on the Wednesday night before Mardi Gras. It was the first time a startup parade had been added to the New Orleans Carnival lineup in 10 years.
In just a few years it became one of the largest and most diverse of New Orleans’ Carnival organizations, with a sister parade, Pandora, in Metairie, which has since ceased rolling.
Two weeks ago, when the City Council voted to pull the krewe’s permit, it may have been a historic first. No one could recall the council ever having done so before. In her interview with Killion, Lea called it an example of “cancel culture.”
Leaving the door slightly open for a future version of the Nyx parade, Lea told Killion, “I’m sorry that the New Orleans chapter of Nyx is over.”
Will Nyx be replaced on Wednesday night with another krewe? Maybe a new krewe? Or will the number of overall parades be reduced? There’s no word yet. Representatives of the mayor’s office, councilman Morrell’s office and the Mayor’s Mardi Gras Advisory Council did not comment.
