Keke Palmer is opening up about her relationship with Darius Jackson, which made headlines throughout much of 2024. The actress detailed the experience to The Cut as she covers the January 2025 issue of the magazine ahead of the release of her One Of Them Days comedy, which co-stars SZA.
“There’s a sensationalization that happens with that word,” the 31-year-old explained of the term “domestic violence.” She continued, “But there really are often no other words to describe such a toxic dynamic.” According to the outlet, she described spending years making “excuses” for Jackson, who is the father of her almost two-year-old son, Leodis “Leo” Andrellton Jackson.
“You can say, ‘I know you’re not like that,’ or ‘I know it’s not like this,’ or ‘I know you’re a good person deep down,’” she detailed. “You can make so many excuses for behavior that could have stopped.” She added that having a child empowered her decision to leave “before it had the chance of becoming something that I had to survive.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, the appointed Creme Of Nature Chief Brand Officer detailed how she felt as the fall-out played out in news headlines and gossip blogs. Even before she was granted custody of their son and a restraining order against Jackson, Palmer was anxious about what would be said about the couple breaking up.
“I hated it,” she detailed. “It was my personal junk. It didn’t deserve a place in the center of something that I worked very hard to make encouraging and empowering.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 10: (L-R) Keke Palmer and Darius Jackson attend Boss Featuring Keke Palmer terrace after party at The GRAMMY Museum on May 10, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
As she anticipated, in November 2023 news of her and Jackson’s violent relationship resulted in messy social media posts, leaked phone communications and security footage, and the star feeling as though “life is truly unraveling at the seams.”
Today, she and Jackson are on good terms and peaceful co-parents to their son. Elsewhere in the interview, she discussed being a child star, and transitioning into adult roles. Read the full piece on The Cut here.
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