Keke Palmer Opens Up About Making 'Excuses' for Ex Darius Jackson’s Alleged Abuse Before Their Split

Last year, Keke Palmer went through a lot. In addition to having her hands full raising her almost-two-year-old son Leo, Palmer publicly split from her ex Darius Jackson and requested a domestic violence restraining order against him in November.

But now that the dust has settled on their split, and Palmer has had a chance to start her new chapter, she’s opening up about what she went through. In an interview with The Cut, the Nope star gave a glimpse into how she decided to leave their relationship and how she dealt with the falling out.

“There’s a sensationalization that happens with that word,” she told the outlets of her being branded as a survivor of domestic violence. “But there really are often no other words to describe such a toxic dynamic.” 

The phrase perhaps hit a nerve because Palmer, who had been with Jackson off and on since 2021, had been “making excuses” for Jackson’s alleged toxic behavior for years. “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 said. “You can make so many excuses for behavior that could have stopped.”

It all changed for Palmer, however, when her son was born in February 2023. Per Palmer, she left “before it had the chance of becoming something that I had to survive.”

As for the public knowing the details of her personal life, including the security camera footage of Jackson and Palmer in their home during a physical altercation, it was another hard pill to swallow for Palmer.

“I hated it,” she said. “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.”

Luckily, she’s now at a place where she can speak up for what happened, and share her story. “When it was happening, it was horrible because I could not get to the message of the story, in real time,” she said. “Now, I’m able to articulate it, and I’m able to say what the story will be.”

For now, in addition to co-parenting her son with Jackson, she’s continued to work hard on her career. Her new movie, One of Them Days, hits theaters on Jan. 17.

If you or someone you know has been the victim of emotional or physical violence, you can get help. To speak with someone who is trained to help with these situations, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800.799.SAFE (7233) or chat online at www.thehotline.org/