KeKe Palmer Revisits the Usher Incident

Last year actress KeKe Palmer was embarrassed by her son's father, Darius Jackson, after he publicly shamed her outfit for a girl's night out to see Usher in Las Vegas [click here if you missed that].

In a new interview KeKe opens up about the aftermath...

From People

In early 2023, Palmer and Jackson appeared every bit the happy couple after welcoming their son Leo in February. But behind the scenes, “there was a lot going on,” she says, even before Jackson took to social media with a gripe that July.

“It’s the outfit tho . . . you a mom,” he wrote in response to a video showing Palmer wearing a sheer dress as she danced with Usher at his concert. Fans immediately came to her defense online — though some commenters stirred the pot.

For her part, “I was speechless,” she says of seeing the uproar the next day.

"I was at a photo shoot and everybody was looking all weird. I was like, 'Are y'all good?' And then I randomly was on my phone and I saw," she says. "It was so crazy. I didn't want to engage with something that wasn't reality and fan the fire."

In Palmer's opinion, “I was just at a concert, doing what I do as an entertainer, creating a fun moment. How it became a storyline that me and Usher are in love, I don’t know," she says now.

As for what contributed to the end of her "unhealthy" relationship with Jackson, she blames the stress of new parenting, and "I imagine fame," says Palmer, who navigated their painful breakup — which included allegations of domestic violence and a custody battle — publicly.

"It's just been a monkey on my back all my life. I'm used to it. But I've always known, and not just with my romantic relationships, but with my family, with my friends. Fame has always become a burden."

In this particular case, "I live a very basic life, but fame would make you think that I go to the Usher concert and pull him off the stage and have him wrapped around my finger," she says. "You might think that, but it's like, 'Girl, I'm just like every other mama going out for a night.'"

Adds Palmer, "I cannot control how people perceive me. I can only control how I show up."