Keke Palmer Says She 'Hated' Her Parents for 'a Long Time': 'There Was So Much Pressure'

Mar. 15, 2025

Keke Palmer attends a screening of “One of Them Days” on Jan. 8, 2025 (left); Sharon Palmer (L) and Larry Palmer attend Keke Palmer’s sweet 16 birthday party on Aug. 22, 2009 (right).Photo:Paras Griffin/Getty; Charley Gallay/WireImage

Paras Griffin/Getty; Charley Gallay/WireImage

Keke Palmerhas some ups and downs in her relationship with her parents.

The second ofSharon and Larry Palmer’sfour children, Keke, 31, felt some major pressure after she landed her breakout role inAkeelah and the Beein 2006, which she followed up with 2008’sTrue Jackson, VPon Nickelodeon, which truly launched her into child stardom — and solidified her as the primary breadwinner for her family.

The actress toldThe Cutthat there was “so much pressure to rise to the occasion for my community, for my parents, for my siblings, for their sacrifices” that it led to hatred on her end.

“I hated my parents for a long time," she admitted.

Though her loved ones “weren’t saying” that the pressure was on her, “that was the reality,” and she knew it. “Because I’m the one that we all came here for.”

Sharon Palmer and Keke Palmer attend the 3rd Annual Dove Self-Esteem Weekend in Times Square on October 5, 2012.Charles Norfleet/Getty

Charles Norfleet/Getty

“It got me thinking she was going to die, thinking about things like medical bills. It was just too much,” Keke told the outlet.

Her challenges within her family dynamic led her to identify particularly well with her Nickelodeon character, a 15-year-old high school student who is put in charge of a major fashion brand.

“She was climbing a corporate ladder, working a grown-up job as a kid. I felt the same way,” Keke told the outlet of True Jackson, who she played for two seasons from 2008 to 2011.

“She was making it happen for herself independently in the world. Growing up with that character — it bled over into how I wanted to show up, how I want to deal with life.”

Keke Palmer and her parents Sharon and Larry Palmer.Keke Palmer Instagram

Keke Palmer Instagram

Keke has opened up previously about the challenges of her childhood fame, particularly given the relationship she was in throughout her time onTrue Jackson, VP.

“I had a great time doingTrue Jackson VP, but it was also a very stressful, difficult, depressive time,” she told PEOPLE for an October cover story asshe revealed she dated a 20-year-old when she was only 15 while starring on the show.

“I was trying to balance between being really young, but also feeling quite mature. If I thought it was inappropriate, then I wouldn’t have done it.”

She continued, “I wasn’t mentally able to process and understand things that would’ve made that relationship appropriate.”

Keke Palmer and Larry Palmer.Keke Palmer Instagram

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In her book,Master of Me, she wrote that the “power dynamic” between her and her then-boyfriend, who she never named, “put me in a place that harmed me in ways I couldn’t have known. I didn’t have the language or the strength to accept that who he met was a child, not the woman I wanted to become.”

source: people.com