Keke Palmer Got Real About Sexual Misconduct In The Music Industry: "Everybody's A Crooked Cop"

This post contains discussions of sexual harassment.

Keke Palmer looked back on her allegations against Trey Songz.

In 2017, Keke spoke out against Trey after he put her in a music video without her consent. She said she repeatedly told him she didn't want to be in it, but claimed Trey used "sexual intimidation" to get her to do it.

Unfortunately, Keke says the incident with Trey was only one of "many moments" she's experienced like that in the industry.

"Not always did I say something, but I said something in that particular situation because my likeness was being used, and I'm just a business person in that regard," she told People.

She also said, "But as far as being in an uncomfortable situation as a woman, where I'm either being sexually harassed, intimidated or just being made uncomfortable in a space that's dominated mostly by men, those are very real people, and that's a very real, accurate situation. And there are countless others."

But Keke said she eventually learned to speak up instead of staying silent. "[I don't allow] a moment to go by if I feel like I need to say something — and I'm going to say something."

She also said she no longer puts herself in those kinds of situations, even if it's with someone she trusts.

"When all that stuff went down, people kept saying, 'Oh, well why did she do this?'" she said of the incident with Trey. "Well, because I thought I could trust this person, and that's the unfortunate thing. Being a woman is like, 'Damn, the biggest mistake you can make is trusting somebody.' Damn, I just shouldn't have trusted someone? I wish that there was more that we could do, but it seems like we can't even really expect for people to respect our boundaries."

"Now, my best way of coping is to just not go places alone, not really let my hair down, not really get too comfortable," she added. "I mean, I've had to do so much preventative shit because I can't trust people to behave. The sad thing is that you learn these things from being in bad situations. It almost feels like it's a coming-of-age story for a woman. It's like, 'Damn. I didn't know I couldn't do this until this happened. Damn, now I've got to be more careful. Wow.' It's this very heavy weight."

Keke then touched on the #MeToo movement and how it hasn't "happened in music," but "should."

"Bad shit happens in all industries, obviously, but specifically entertainment," she said. "We know bad things happen in all of them, but it's almost like the acting world represents a union and the music industry represents non-union. It's happening in the actor world but eventually, it's going to come to a damn halt. Somebody's going to get called out. Something's going to happen. At some point, we're going to come to some kind of understanding. With music, it's like everybody is being paid, and everybody's a crooked cop. So, it seems like nothing will ever really come to a head."

Keke speaks more about her sexual harassment experiences in her new visual album Big Boss. You can watch it on YouTube here and read more from her interview with People here.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here.