Is Keke Palmer in a Relationship? What We Know About Her Love Life
Keke Palmer is headed to American Idol! The actress/singer is not only mentoring the Top 20 contestants on Season 24, but she’ll also be joining the panel as a guest judge in Hawaii during the March 16 and March 23 episodes.
Since Palmer has been in the spotlight since she was a child, fans have followed her professional and personal trajectory over the years. Recently, that included welcoming a child and going through a public breakup.
Scroll down to learn more about Palmer’s relationship status today, as well as her romantic history.
Is Keke Palmer in a relationship?
It is not believed that Palmer is currently in a relationship. On Valentine’s Day 2026, she revealed on Instagram that she had “absolutely nothing romantic” go down, adding, “I like no one and I’m almost 100% sure I’m asexual. I have no interest in anyone, but I wish I did!”
Prior to that, Palmer was romantically linked to online streamer PlaqueBoyMax in January. She posted an Instagram photo with PlaqueBoyMax, who is 10 years her junior, and captioned it, “I think I’m in love 🙄 @plaqueboymax.” The two were also seen dancing together on a live stream.
What happened between Keke Palmer and Darius Jackson?
From June 2021 until October 2023, Palmer was in a relationship with Darius Jackson. They met at a Memorial Day party, and while Palmer mostly kept her love life private before meeting the fitness instructor, she was more public about their relationship by the time they made things official in summer 2021.
“We spend all this time together, and he really is my closest friend, so it just becomes a thing where I’m not gonna hide something that makes me happy,” she explained on The Tamron Hall Show.
Palmer and Jackson, a former college football player, share a son, Leodis Andrellton Jackson, who was born in February 2023. Their relationship ended just eight months later following issues that began arising over the summer (more on that below).
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Palmer filed domestic violence restraining order against her ex in November 2023, claiming that he was physically abusive multiple times throughout the course of their romance. “The abuse during our relationship was not just physical, but emotional and manipulative,” she wrote in her lawsuit, which also included three detailed allegations of physical abuse that she claimed occurred.
The actress said that Jackson allegedly “hit” her in front of their son, and she filed for sole custody of the baby. A judge granted her a temporary restraining order and sole custody of the child.
The following month, Jackson, who has recently entered the military, responded with a domestic violence restraining order of his own. He alleged that Palmer “frequently became agitated and aggressive after consuming alcohol” and accused her of “[engaging] in abusive conduct.”
The exes ended up attending court-ordered mediation and were able to settle their differences amicably. They now share custody of their son. “I feel very at ease now knowing things are under control,” Palmer wrote in her 2024 book Master of Me. She also wrote, “I wish I could say he was terrible the entire time or that I was … but it wasn’t that black-and-white and that was the problem. I didn’t want my son to think his father is a monster, because I don’t.”
What happened between Usher and Keke Palmer?
The cracks in Palmer and Jackson’s relationship were first seen after she attended an Usher concert in Las Vegas in July 2023. Videos from the concert showed Palmer dancing with Usher during the show while he serenaded her.
“It’s the outfit tho.. you a mom,” he wrote in a now-deleted tweet. “We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife & mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others & he gets told how much of a hater he is. This is my family & my representation. I have standards & morals to what I believe. I rest my case.”
One month after this all went down, Palmer popped up in Usher’s music video for “Boyfriend” and subtly addressed the situation. The video ended with Palmer waking up in a hotel room and answering her phone, “Yes, yes, hello? What time is it? Damn it! I missed the show. I’m so tired. I’m a mother, after all!”
Palmer then sang about the incident on her 2025 track “My Confession,” where she specifically mentioned, “Summer ’23, we was in Vegas, right?” She also hinted that she and Jackson broke up before the concert, adding, “Broke up with me and you hopped on a flight,” and singing, “Was tryna find my way back to alright, so I figured that I’d have myself a girls’ night.” Other lyrics included, “48 hours later online, made me a villain for sympathy, but you lied,” and, “But the truth is in Vegas we was already over, boo, because of you.”
Meanwhile, Usher shared his side of the story while appearing on Palmer’s podcast in February 2025. “I don’t want to take any responsibility for breaking everybody’s home up, but that wasn’t the purpose and point,” he explained. “It was for you to have a good time with your girls. Come out there and just enjoy. … You looked fabulous, by the way. And if you didn’t wear what you wore, I wouldn’t have seen you.”
Why did Keke Palmer kiss Sean Evans?
Palmer made headlines when she kissed Hot Ones host Sean Evans on an episode of the YouTube series in September 2025. It was her third appearance on the show.
Her decision to kiss Evans came following his 2023 Chicken Shop Date appearance where he admitted to having a crush on Palmer.
“I saw an interview where you said, like, I was your favorite guest, you know, and all this really sweet stuff,” Palmer told Evans. “And I know we’ve just had some wings, but I thought that maybe we could just have a quick smooch to see if there’s a spark.”
Obviously, Evans agreed, and afterwards joked, “When I’m dying and my life flashes before my eyes, I’ll have that snapshot.”
American Idol, Season 24, Mondays, 8/7c, ABC
