The Emmy winner gets candid about her future in Hollywood after a year of evolution and mothering.
Keke Palmer has been a Hollywood treasure since she began her career 20 years ago, and her empire is only evolving with time. Shortly after Palmer's digital network KeyTV was launched in 2022, the Nope star welcomed her first child, son Leodis Andrellton Jackson.
A year later, the Emmy winner opens up to Teen Vogue about her legacy and where she sees her future in Hollywood as her definition of success evolves along with her changing world.
Palmer reflects on the momentous milestones she's celebrated since 2022: becoming a media mogul as CEO of KeyTV and the record label Big Bosses Entertainment, turning 30, becoming a mother and releasing her visual album, Big Boss. Although 2024 has just begun, she's already crossed off a few new bucket list items, including becoming an Emmy winner for her work on NBC's Password revival -- which made her the first woman in 15 years to win a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Game Show and the first Black woman to win or be nominated.
"I just felt like, 'I'm successful. What more do I need?'" Palmer recalls musing as she stood on a new threshold of her career. "I was like, 'I'm good. So now what?'"
However, with every success, her definition of the concept has shifted to mean more than recognition and accolades. She shares with the outlet that she sees every milestone as another step towards empowering the next generation of artists of color and sharing all that she's learned.
"When you create generational wealth within underserved communities, you create wealth within our entire economy," Palmer says. "My hope and my desire is to teach people the skills that I have, to teach them how to brand themselves, how to be entrepreneurs, how to work within a system, but also use that system to create something that's unique to them. In doing that... I'm not behind the eight ball. And now my son," she adds, "he can start at stage 10 instead of having to start at stage one like I did. I want other people to have that [too]."
While the competition show host acknowledges that she has all she needs to retire when she wants, she says she hasn't reached the point of disappearing from the public eye for the rest of her life. Yet.
"I don't know. I think the timer has started," she reveals. "I think it's because I just haven't felt it yet. But the timer, I know that it's around the corner. I don't know when exactly, but it's around the corner."
Before she takes her leave, Palmer wants to ensure that her work lives on with its purpose in opening doors for those coming up behind her.
"The main thing I want those legacies to be is [a call] to use your power for good, to use what you have to create spaces and systems for other people to thrive," she says. "I just don't believe in holding everything. I don't believe in gatekeeping. I'm not a coward. What would that do? I think it's based in fear. If I'm speaking on it from a compassionate place, I think people that gatekeep are afraid. So I'm not scared."
She continues, "I think about my son. I don't want to raise him to be afraid. I don't want to raise him to have no boundaries or for him to be naïve either. But I want to raise him to know that if life is a school, get out there and learn. A part of learning in this place, I think, is to love and to know how to first be unconditionally loving to yourself, so that you know how to love others and be of service to others in a way that doesn't disadvantage them but instead empowers them. That's what I would hope that the legacy is for me. And for anyone that wants to follow me, I hope that's what they see too."
Although Palmer's life has been filled with accolades and rewards, it's also been filled with personal hardships.
The award-winning star made headlines in November 2023 when she requested a temporary restraining order against her estranged partner, Darius Jackson, as well as for sole custody of their son, after claiming she was the victim of his abuse over the course of their relationship, according to court docs obtained by ET.
Palmer's initial filing claimed Jackson "threatened" her before "lunging for my neck, striking me, throwing me over the couch and stealing my phone." According to the court documents filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Palmer said there's security footage to back her claims. She claimed that her parents also saw what happened on that particular day.
Palmer further highlighted a September 2023 incident where Jackson allegedly became physically rough with their crying son. The documents allege that she intervened to ensure the child's safety, describing a moment that almost turned into a tug-of-war with the infant. Palmer claimed Jackson hit her in the head before storming out of the room.
Following the initial legal proceedings, the former couple agreed to postpone the court date and explore mediation. However, Jackson later reversed course, filing a counterclaim asserting that Palmer was the aggressor in the relationship and had engaged in abusive conduct over their two-and-a-half-year relationship.
Earlier this month, the domestic violence restraining order against Jackson was extended for an additional six months.
When reflecting on the more tragic changes that have occurred within her world, Palmer tells Teen Vogue that she would like to shift the focus in the months ahead.
"I put focus on things that I see can give power to others," she says. "I feel like that's my [side of the] parasocial relationship. For me, the most important thing is to keep people uplifted. I know what I represent, and I know a lot of people that feel like I represent them. I just care most about continuing to put focus on the things that I know are going to be positive and uplifting to others."
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