Keke Palmer Says Her Parents Shielded Her From Exploitation As A Child
Keke Palmer says her parents did their best to ensure she wasn’t exploited as a child actor. During a new episode of Los Angeles Times’ The Envelope podcast, Palmer, 29, explained how her parents navigated Hollywood with a child at such an impressionable age.
Because of their attentiveness, the actress noted that she wasn’t “exploited in ways that made me feel less as a person.”
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“I don’t think it’s always this terrifying thing. Sometimes, many of the times, it is, but other times, it’s just kind of like a part of it. I think everybody’s exploited in the entertainment industry,” Keke asserted. “It becomes dangerous when you are exploited against your will, or you are exploited in the ways that you do not wish.”
The KeyTV Network boss lady also referenced the harrowing case of Britney Spears to share the difference with her parents’ intentions.
“You look at a situation like Britney Spears, and she was exploited in ways that just totally were unfair and not aligned with probably what she truly wanted as a young woman. Whereas me, I think my parents definitely did do a good job at making sure that I was not exploited in ways that made me feel less as a person.”
The Nope actress explained that her roles as a child amplified her sense of self-love and confidence, citing movies like Akeelah and the Bee as examples.
“When you look at my roles and the things that I played, especially as a kid, they were roles that could only make me feel proud about who I am. I was a national spelling bee champ. I was the star of a football team. Double dutch champion. I was the vice president of my own fashion company. They were careful about how I was being put on display—that it was something that in the end, that I could be proud of.”
Palmer also explained how her disinterest in being “popular” allowed her to take her time with acting as opportunities began to dry up.
“But there is the aspect of that, as a child entertainer, especially once those opportunities disappear, you have to figure out what you’re going to do and how you’re going to work from there,” she recalled. “That’s when things can be tricky. I took my time with it and didn’t focus on trying to be popular, but trying to figure out what stories I wanted to tell and how I wanted to impact artistry as a whole.”
Elsewhere, during her appearance with SZA on Dec. 3’s Saturday Night Live episode, Palmer revealed she was pregnant.
“There’s some rumors going around, people have been in my comments saying, ‘Keke’s having a baby, Keke’s pregnant,’ and I wanna set the record straight — I am!” Palmer exclaimed, unbuttoning and opening her brown blazer, showing off her bump.
“I gotta say, though, it is bad when people on the internet spread rumors about you y’all, but it’s even worse when they’re correct. I mean, like, I was trying so hard to keep it on the down low, cause I got a lot of stuff going on, you know?”
