It’s been a long few years for Keke Palmer.
The actress gave birth to her first child in 2023 with Darius Jackson. Soon after, rumors swirled of trouble in paradise. The two parents have seen their fair share of turmoil, but where does the former couple stand today?
It began in summer of 2021 when the pair met at a Memorial Day party hosted by Issa Rae and Sean Combs. Jackson is the brother of ‘Insecure’ actor Sarunas Jackson.
“I walked up to him. My best friend was like, ‘You should just say something to him. You should ask if he wants a drink,'” Palmer shared of their sweet meet cute. However, she also shared that while she thought he was cute, she had no intention of being locked down.
“When I walked up to him, I was not looking for love,” Palmer shared. “I was looking for a roster, you understand? And so I was like, ‘He fits the physical bill.’ But when I talked to him… he was such a sweetheart. I think what I saw was he’s just a sweet guy.”
Jackson also felt equally smitten by Palmer upon their first meeting. Sharing in an Instagram post, “Never would have expected summer 2021 to turn out the way it did, but here we are. I’m glad we were able to help each other throughout our lowest of times & show one another that what we are bringing to the table is everything that we got.”
The two shared an on-again-off-again relationship until welcoming their son in 2023. Trouble began in the public that summer soon after Palmer gave birth. The actress went viral in a video where she was dancing with Usher during his Las Vegas residency.
It’s typical for the R&B singer to pull a woman from the crowd and do a little sexy dance with her, and on this night Palmer was the lucky woman. However, what on the surface seemed to be a fun and joyous night, soon turned into shots fired from Jackson.
In a since deleted post on X, Darius wrote, “It’s the outfit tho.. you a mom.”
The internet went crazy. Calling into question their relationship and the idea of what right a man has to comment on a woman’s actions. Even if the woman in question is the mother of his child.
He later doubled down on his post adding, “We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife & mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others & he gets told how much of a hater he is. This is my family & my representation. I have standards & morals to what I believe. I rest my case.” Palmer didn’t directly respond.
Although rumors swirled the two had broken up, he was photographed at her 30th birthday that June. In November 2023 things took a turn for the worse. Palmer filed for a restraining order.
According to Business Insider, “She alleged that Jackson was physically and emotionally abusive to her on several occasions throughout their relationship. Palmer said that in the most recent incident, Jackson trespassed in her home on November 5 and ‘physically attacked’ her, knocking her down and pinning her to her couch.”
Ultimately, Palmer shared that the two had to go their separate ways in order to ensure peace for both their own mental health and their son’s sake.
“I can’t explain why it went the way it did, but what I do know is that one of us had to put an end to it existing as it was, or there could’ve been a big mistake that would’ve irreversibly affected both of our lives,” Palmer wrote in her memoir, “Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative.”
They both remain single. While they’re no longer together, she revealed that they have reached a happy co-parenting agreement.
“I gotta be honest, I would’ve never thought that I would be where I am now, and so I’m very grateful that this has now been the outcome and we’ve been able to coexist in this way and show up for our son, and just be in a different place,” Palmer said during an appearance on CBS Mornings with Gayle King. “It’s a real blessing,”
