Keke Palmer Is A ‘Nope’ On Colorism Claims and Zendaya Comparisons: ‘I’m An Incomparable Talent’

Keke Palmer has been dominating social media with clips from various press appearances in support of her starring turn in Jordan Peele’s latest horror flick, Nope. On Sunday (July 24), the Emmy-winning actress took to Twitter for a different reason.

The conversation surrounding Nope quickly transformed into a discourse on colorism, who decides what is or is not “mainstream,” and Keke’s lengthy career. “I’d like someone to do a deep-drive on the similarities and differences between Keke Palmer and Zendaya’s careers,” one Twitter user wrote in a thread on Saturday afternoon. “This may be one of the clearest examples of how colorism plays out in Hollywood. They were both child-stars, but their mainstream popularity is very different.”

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Referencing Zendaya’s Disney foundation (Shake It Up) and Keke’s Nickelodeon background (True Jackson VP), the user added that both stars are “triple threats,” but “if Zendaya was darker, I don’t know that she would be considered mainstream by their standards.”

Palmer, who also starred in Lightyear this year, shut down the conversation in just two tweets. “A great example of colorism is to believe I can be compared to anyone,” she wrote. “I’m the youngest talk show host ever. The first Black woman to star in her own show on Nickelodeon, & the youngest & first Black Cinderella on broadway.” The Alice star added, “I’ve been a leading lady since I was 11 years old. I have over 100+ credits, and currently starring in an original screenplay that’s the number one film at the box office.”

This weekend, Nope opened at No. 1 at the box office, bringing in over $44 million. Keke has noted that “this is still a very new experience in terms of the scale of this film and the attention that it’s getting.” Nevertheless, the film’s success and acclaim have only added to her fast-growing legacy. “I’m an incomparable talent. Baby, THIS, is Keke Palmer,” the multi-hyphenate proclaimed.

Throughout her career thus far, Keke Palmer has notched several appearances across myriad Billboard charts. In 2012, she earned three top 5 hits on the Gospel Digital Song Sales chart thanks to her performance in Joyful Noise. Six years later, she topped out at No. 32 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay with “Bossy,” which spent nine weeks on the chart. As for albums, the Scream Queens star has notched a pair of entries on the Heatseekers Albums chart, So Uncool (No. 26) and Lauren (No. 22).

Check out her response below.

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