Keke Palmer Reveals Shocking Comment From Former Manager That Left Her Scarred

Keke Palmer recently opened up about some deeply personal and difficult moments from her childhood and early career in Hollywood. In an emotional interview with The Cut, the Emmy-winning actress, now 31, shared how a comment from a former manager left her deeply scarred.

When she was just 12 years old, her manager made a shocking remark about her mother’s health, saying she would die if she didn’t lose weight. 

“That really, really traumatized me and stressed me out,” Keke admitted. The comment sparked overwhelming fears for her mother’s life and created an early fixation on medical bills and mortality. “It was just too much,” she said.

This wasn’t the only hardship Keke faced as a young actress. She also felt immense pressure to succeed because her career was supporting her family financially. “I hated my parents for a long time,” Keke confessed. “There was so much pressure to rise to the occasion for my community, for my parents, for my siblings, for their sacrifices. They weren’t saying it, but that was the reality.”

Keke began her Hollywood journey at just 10 years old, debuting in Barbershop 2: Back in Business in 2004. From there, she quickly made her mark with appearances in Cold Case, Strong Medicine, Akeelah and the Bee, and The Wool Cap, earning a Screen Actors Guild nomination. Her career soared during the 2000s with standout roles in Disney’s Jump In! and Nickelodeon’s True Jackson, VP.

But behind the scenes, Keke was navigating challenges that no child should face. In her memoir Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative, set to release soon, she revealed being in an inappropriate relationship during her time on True Jackson, VP.

“I was 15, he was 20,” Keke shared.

Reflecting on the dynamic, she continued, “I was trying to balance being really young, but also feeling quite mature. If I thought it was inappropriate, then I wouldn’t have done it.” 

She acknowledged now how wrong it was, saying, “Obviously, I shouldn’t have been 15 dating no 20-year-old, but in my mind, it was like, ‘I got a full-time job… Can’t nobody understand me but a grown man.’”

Keke also noted how the relationship highlighted her naivety at the time. “But he knew there was a lot of stuff that there’s no damn way for me to understand at damn 15,” she admitted.