Keke Palmer
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Lizzo is glad that she will not be bringing legal worries into the new year. She reveals she was totally blindsided by her former staff’s sexual harassment claims.
As spotted on Variety Magazine the singer received a favorable decision regarding a high profile lawsuit. Back in 2023 her ex stylist and dance troupe made some very damming allegations against her including sexual harassment, body shaming and fostering a toxic work environment. Earlier this month a California federal judge dismissed the case and ruled that her former dancers and stylist had no grounds to sue her (they are still pursuing damages from Lizzo’s touring company and payroll agency).
Naturally the “Truth Hurts” singer said very little about the lawsuit while the case was still open. Now that it is formally behind she is speaking up about the entire ordeal. She recently paid a visit to the This Is Keke Palmer podcast and she made it clearly she was just as surprised by the filing as everyone else was. “The hardest part about all this is that none of these things were true,” she explained. “I was completely surprised. I was very deeply hurt because these were three dancers; that I gave opportunities to. These were people that I liked and appreciated as dancers, respected them as dancers. So I was like, ‘What?!’ But then I heard all the other things, like sexual harassment, and I was like, ‘I don’t know what they’re trying to do,’ but these are the types of things that the media can turn into something that it’s not.”
In the lawsuit the troupe detailed an evening out in Amsterdam’s Red Light District where they claim Lizzo pressured them to interact with nude performers. While Lizzo denied that their account of the evening was factual, Keke responded objectively asking “Do you feel looking back on the situation that maybe your casual personality could have been misconstrued as ‘I got to do this, because this is my boss?’” Lizzo admitted that the experience has taught her how to move more tactfully when it comes to engaging with her staff. “I think that this experience taught me healthy boundaries, but to be real with you, it was such a fun night… I think there’s a time where there’s a difference between having boundaries and professional boundaries… It’s nuanced. It’s a new conversation in this industry.”
You can watch Lizzo discuss this and her upcoming new album below.
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It’s reading season! The holidays are about gifting, finding joy and relaxing with a good book. Whether you plan to travel or stay put for the holidays, an audiobook is a fun way to help you pass the time over the holidays (even though it goes pretty quickly). Audible offers access to more than a million audiobooks, including bestsellers and new releases such as Keke Palmer’s Master of Me and Cher: The Memoir, both released on Tuesday (Nov. 19).
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For a limited time, eligible Amazon customers can join Audible for only 99 cents per month for the first three months.
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The membership includes one free bestseller or new release each month and access to thousands of audiobooks, podcasts and Audible. Plus, Amazon Music subscribers can now access Audible titles, Amazon announced on Tuesday.
The Audible membership will renew at $14.95/month after the promo ends but you can cancel anytime.
See below for more on Audible new releases.
Audible Deep Dive: Audiobooks to Put on Your Radar
In her new memoir, Cher talks love, motherhood, loss and triumph — from her earliest childhood memories to her marriage and divorce from Sonny Bono and forging her own path as a solo artist. The book also details Cher’s relationship with rocker Gregg Allman, motherhood and her bout for independence.
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Cher: The Memoir, Part One (Audibook)
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The audiobook is read in part by Cher and narrated by Tony Award-winning actress Stephanie J. who starred in The Cher Show. Cher and Brooks alternate between chapters creating a “unique audiobook treatment” to immerse listeners into her life story.
“When it came to completing the audiobook, I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it all myself due to my dyslexia. But then I thought of Stephanie, who won the Tony for playing me on Broadway in The Cher Show. I knew she would be the perfect choice to get across to the reader the essence of me,” Cher explained. “I called her and within hours she re-arranged her schedule to start the recording. I felt so safe having her help share my story, and she did a beautiful job.”
Reflecting on life lessons, Palmer goes into teaching mode with Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative. Read in her own words, the actress-singer-host gets candid about her struggles with boundaries, unconditional love, forgiveness and feeling worthy.
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“Don’t block your blessings and potential opportunities by allowing the voices of other people to influence your actions,” notes Palmer. “How you’re choosing to set yourself up for success is between you and the person looking back at you in the mirror.”
Other entertainment-focused releases available on Audible include The Mysterious Affair of Styles featuring actor Peter Dinklage, You Never Know by actor Tom Selleck, Stanley Tucci’s Taste, Britney Spears’ The Woman in Me, Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime, Mariah Carey’s Portrait of a Portrait and George Orwell’s 1984: An Audible Original Adaptation narrated by Cynthia Erivo, Tom Hardy and Andrew Garfield.
Read more on Audible’s holiday promo here.
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Source: John Nacion / Getty / Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry wants the world to know he doesn’t care about your criticisms of his films and will not change his formula for making them.
Please make no mistake. Tyler Perry has helped many Black actors find work in Hollywood thanks to his television series and films, and people appreciate him for that, but that doesn’t mean he is above criticism.
Following the release of his latest project, Divorce In The Black, starring Meagan Good and Cory Hardrict, which has earned the rare honor of earning a big fat 0% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes while maintaining a 75% audience score, fans have once again called into question Perry’s writing.
For the most part, the director/actor has ignored the critiques about his projects, but during an appearance on the “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer” podcast, he let the chopper spray.
Tyler Perry Defends His Films
“I know for a fact that what I’m doing is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing,” Perry told Palmer.
He continued, “Because for everyone who is a critic, I have thousands of — used to be — emails from people saying, ‘This changed my life. Oh my God, you know me. Oh my God, you saw me. How did you know this about my life and my family?’ That is what is important.”
He let the “highbrow negroes” who critique his projects have it and let it be known he makes his movies for “a large portion of my fans” who are “disenfranchised. Who cannot get in the Volvo and go to therapy on the weekend,”
“So, you’ve got this highbrow Negro who is all up in the air with his nose up looking at everything, then you got people like where I come from, and me, who are grinders, who really know what it’s like, whose mothers were caregivers for white kids, and were maids, housekeepers…beauticians. Don’t discount these people and say that their stories don’t matter. Who are you to be able to say which Black story is important or should be told? Get out of here with that bullshit.”
Social Media Claps Back At Tyler Perry
As expected, users on X, formerly Twitter, didn’t care for Perry’s thoughts on their critiques of his lackluster films.
“How dare these highbrow negroes criticize me, a man who cares so much about the working class that I no longer work with the union that helps struggling writers stay afloat in the entertainment industry,” one user on X wrote in response to Perry’s comments.
Journalist Jerry L. Barrow added, “He’s totally missing and/or dismissing the actual criticism, which is the WRITING, not the topics or the audience. Good writing isn’t about class.
Tyler Perry’s writing and films have been the topic of discussion for years. Shows like The Boondocks and Atlanta each dedicate an entire episode to calling him out.
Loni Love, former co-host of The Talk and comedian, blasted Perry for the poor quality of his films, saying he needs to hire more Black writers in response to film critics’ unanimous pannement of Divorce in the Black.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
4. Lol, points were made in this tweet.
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Source: Tasos Katopodis / Getty / Keke Palmer / Issa Rae
Keke Palmer and SZA in a buddy comedy produced by Issa Rae? Sign us the hell up for that.
Deadline exclusively reports the four-time Grammy winner will make her acting debut alongside Palmer in a buddy comedy film that Rae will produce under her HOORAE banner.
ColorCreative’s Deniese Davis, Charles D. King, James Lopez, and Poppy Hanks from Macro Film Studios will also produce.
Rap Sh!t director Lawrence Lamont will sit in the director’s chair for the project, with his Rap Sh!t teammate Syreeta Singleton handling the script.
The news comes after Keke Palmer and SZA recently teamed up for an episode of Saturday Night Live with Palmer hosting while SZA was the night’s musical act.
Deadline notes the film’s plot remains a secret and that the film was a product of the CoCre lab at Sony Pictures.
The lab was created by a previous pact between ColorCreative and Columbia Pictures to find and raise emerging diverse screenwriters and help them develop and write their first studio feature using original ideas.
This Role Was An Opportunity SZA Couldn’t Pass Up
SZA was considering numerous projects before joining the buddy comedy because working alongside Palmer was an opportunity she couldn’t say no to.
As for Rae, she has been the talk of the internet lately after her Insecure co-star, Amanda Seales, mentioned their lack of a relationship on a recent episode of Shannon Shape’s podcast, Club Shay Shay.
It looks like Issa Rae is just focusing on rooting for everyone Black, putting people on, and ignoring the outside noise.
For Palmer, this latest project follows her stellar performance on Jordan Peele’s NOPE, as well as her other successful endeavors like her Emmy Award-winning self-created project Turnt Up With the Taylors, and her gameshow hosting gig, Password, which also earned her an Emmy.
We love to see it.
Ally Brooke is opening up about her time in Fifth Harmony, which was formed on The X Factor in 2012. In a wide ranging interview with Keke Palmer for the Baby, This Is Keke Palmer podcast this week, the 30-year-old star revealed a compliment that the show’s judge Simon Cowell told her while she was […]
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Source: Derek White / Getty / Darius Jackson / Keke Palmer
The ongoing saga between Keke Palmer and her baby daddy, Darius Jackson, has taken an interesting turn.
Palmer and her ex-boyfriend are currently engaged in a messy custody battle over their son Leodis Andrellton, with the actress/singer asking for full custody of Leodis and a temporary restraining order against her former flame.
The NOPE star claims Jackson was physically and verbally abusive towards her, and now Jackson is making the same claims in a counterclaim filed on Friday morning with the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the Los Angeles Times reports via Complex.
Per Complex:
In the complaint, Jackson claimed that Palmer, 30, “repeatedly engaged in abusive conduct” and “acted as the primary aggressor” during their two-year relationship.
Several incidents are cited in the counterclaim between Aug. 20, 2021 to March 12, 2023, where Jackson claimed that Palmer “was verbally and physically abusive” and “frequently became agitated and aggressive after consuming alcohol.”
The former athlete alleged that the actress “punched [him] in the face” at a birthday party in August 2021, “punched the windshield of [his] car” while he was driving in January 2022, and “physically attacked [him] by choking and hitting [him]” at her Los Angeles residence on Feb. 28, 2022.
Jackson also alleged in the filing that on March 12 of this year, Palmer had been drinking and called him multiple expletives after blaming him for a clogged shower drain. “I tried to de-escalate the situation and she became more enraged,” said Jackson in the counterclaim.
Palmer did get a temporary restraining order against her son’s father, while Jackson denied all of the abuse claims levied against him.
Keke’s momma got in the mix by adding to the drama after threatening to shoot Jackson for entering her daughter’s home, allegedly.
This situation is a giant, public mess that we hope the two can figure out amicably for the sake of their son.
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Photo: Derek White / Getty
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Source: Paras Griffin / Getty
Keke Palmer is opening up about how to identify bad relationships and contemplating the role mental health plays in personal relationships after her recent breakup with ex-boyfriend Darius Jackson, whom she accused of abuse late last month.
In the latest episode of her podcast, Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, the award-winning actress spoke about a myriad of subjects with guest, Dr. Drew Pinsky, including misogyny, unhealthy relationships, dealing with narcissism, and childhood fame.
“I actually remember, Dr. Drew, the moment that it happened,” Keke Palmer said. “No one could relate to me — not my siblings, not even my parents. Anytime a dynamic is shifted like that it can get highly toxic because no one knows how to deal with the trauma of being a celebrity, or having a celebrity child. My parents did great, and I said this in my book: ‘I can judge all day and night, but I’m pretty good. I could have been worse off. But the reality is, I remember at that time, as a child, when I did not have the awareness and the understanding and words and the knowledge that I have now, I just said ‘I’m never coming out again.’”
In regards to the misogyny, the triple threat shared that her idea of relationships and how couples should operate started in the home; getting candid with her mother, Sharon, as she reflected on her upbringing and experiences.
“My dad is great and my uncles are great, so misogyny came at me hard and quick with the quickness. I grew up in a house where my mom would say, ‘This is what it needs to be.’ And Larry would be like, ‘Okay, Sharon. Go on ahead, Sharon,’” Palmer shared with her mother as a guest on her podcast. “So, for me, when I entered outside of my household and I saw that everybody doesn’t really respect their wives or even women in the way that my dad respects my mom, it was a pretty rude awakening.”
The episode titled, “How to Deal with Abusive Relationships, Boundaries, and Narcissism”, dropped almost three weeks after the actress obtained a temporary domestic violence restraining order against Jackson and was granted temporary sole custody of her 8-month-old son, Leodis, with whom the former couple share.
In the Nov. 9 filing, Palmer reportedly accused her former partner of physical and emotional abuse throughout their two-year relationship and after their breakup, which she said occurred in October.
As noted by People, a hearing is set for Dec. 5 to determine further action on the arrangement; in the meantime, the temporary restraining order says Jackson must stay at least 100 yards away from both Palmer and their son, as well as any childcare or schooling established for the infant.
Check out the episode below.
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Source: Paras Griffin / Getty / Keke Palmer / Sharon Palmer
The Keke Palmer / Darius Jackson drama hit another level, and poor Usher is caught a stray for no reason after Keke’s momma brought up the singer’s name during a recorded phone conversation.
Spotted on HipHopDX, Keke Palmer’s mother, Sharon Palmer, is now copping pleas after claiming Usher was “gay” and now says she only said that to protect her daughter.
Her allegations came during a recording of an intense phone call with her daughter’s ex-boyfriend, Darius Jackson, which surfaced online on Wednesday, November 15, following allegations of Jackson being abusive towards Keke Palmer.
Per HipHopDX:
During the heated conversation, Palmer can be heard yelling at Jackson for “harassing” her daughter, calling him a “dick sucker” and saying he has “mental problems.”
She also references the incident that sparked issues between the couple (at least in the public eye): the viral clip of the Nope star dancing with Usher during the singer’s Las Vegas residency earlier this year.
“Usher is gay!” she exclaimed. “You and your stupid-ass family, y’all don’t even understand business. Usher’s gay, guys.”
Sharon Palmer Quickly Clarifies Why She Lied About Usher’s Sexuality
As expected, the recording went viral on social media and was picked up by multiple news outlets. Sharon Palmer quickly ran to Instagram to explain her “lie” about Usher’s sexuality after saying she was worried about her daughter’s “safety.”
“The lie I told about Usher was to get Darius to stop abusing my daughter on account of his jealousy,” she wrote in a comment on The Neighborhood Talk’s page, as reported by HipHopDX. “So I said he didn’t like women for her SAFETY.”
“Everything else I meant with my chest and didn’t expect anyone to hear it because recording me is illegal. I guess he is okay with jail but I knew that when he put his hands on my daughter. He is still abusing her in all of this, trying to paint himself as a victim. Textbook behavior.”
Damn, Usher didn’t do anything but give Keke Palmer an experience at his show.
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Photo: Paras Griffin / Getty
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Darius Jackson is breaking his silence after Keke Palmer levied claims of abuse against him after images from an alleged altercation surfaced with no charges brought by authorities. Adding to this, Palmer’s mother allegedly threatened to shoot Jackson for entering her daughter’s home, and Jackson’s mother also chimed in.
TMZ reports that Darius Jackson has denied that he physically abused Keke Palmer and instead claims that Palmer’s mother, Sharon Palmer, allegedly threatened to put a bullet in his head. According to sources, Jackson reportedly entered Palmer’s home in order to bring his son with him to watch football this past Sunday. However as he arrived at Palmer’s home, their son wasn’t home.
The outlet adds that an argument allegedly took place between the parents and Palmer called her mother and then put her on speakerphone. Jackson claims it was during this moment that Palmer’s mother threatened to put a bullet in his head. At this point, as seen in the images provided by Palmer in support of her restraining order filing, Jackson reportedly tried to get the phone away from Palmer.
Police were called to the scene and did a preliminary investigation and didn’t see any reason to arrest Jackson nor was a report filed that day. In an update provided by TMZ, Jackson’s mother texted Palmer’s mother in response to the bullet threat and promised to involve the police. That exchange can be viewed on the outlet’s page.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
Keke Palmer and her baby daddy’s alleged abuse towards her is now on full blast, and even her mother, Sharon Palmer, has entered the chat. As you may have heard, the actress reportedly filed for a restraining order against Darius Jackson, and her mother took to social media to slam the baby daddy’s brother.
Sharon Palmer took to Instagram to basically call Jackson an abuser with her whole chest but she had all the smoke for the guy’s brother, actor Sarunas Jackson aka the tall light skin dude from Insecure. Sarunas posted, and deleted, a message defending his allegedly abusive brother (which as all things social media, never really gets deleted).
“The most disgusting, vile, abusive, manipulative person I have EVER encountered in my entire life… Abuses almost everyone. Y’all will see.. Just send positive energy to the babies… Any child in the middle of something like this does not deserve it AT ALL. Wow. So damn sad,” wrote Jackson.
Well, mom dukes caught wind and was not having it.
“I’ve never done anything like this,” she began in her video message. “I’ve been in this business for 22 years. I’ve seen a lot of stuff, but I can’t help myself. For Sarunas Jackson to post on his Twitter the ridiculous stuff that he’s posting when he knew his brother was abusive… I went to Sarunas over a year ago and told him that his brother was abusive to my daughter, and he said, ‘Oh, well, I used to be like that too.’ What?! So now, he’s posting on Twitter like he’s this uh…special guy? We know he’s the biggest f*ck boy in Hollywood. He’s disrespectful to women, just like his little brother. He taught his brother how to be abusive. So, he doesn’t get to act like he’s this special guy. No, you’re a f*ck boy, and you’re a part of the problem!”
Jackson is of course denying any of Momma Palmer’s allegations.
Social media court is in session, and it’s getting hot, and receipts are being dug up. The irony often being cited is that Jackson was one of the only celebs to call out Trey Songz over the singer’s own abuse allegations. Also being noted is that Amanda Seales recently called out what she considered the “tacky” behavior of Darius and Saruans Jackson.
We compiled some of the more poignant takes in the gallery.