Keke Palmer reveals that she wanted a baby and a “stedman” after Darius Jackson split
Keke Palmer’s new record, Just Keke, doesn’t just have new songs; it also has some ugly truths about her relationship with Darius Jackson, the father of her son. She told him about the project and her hopes that he’d be her “Steadman” not long ago.
BOSSIP has already written about how Keke Palmer and Darius Jackson’s relationship became tangled after Jackson’s famous tweet in July 2023 criticizing Palmer’s outfit at an Usher show. Their public fight got worse very quickly, and in October 2023, they officially broke up. Palmer made things more complicated when, in November 2023, she asked for a protection order against Jackson, saying that he had abused her physically and emotionally. Jackson then filed his own protection order, which showed that the two people were at odds with each other. But recently, in May 2025, the couple reached a peaceful joint custody deal for their adorable son Leo. They asked the cases to be dropped, which was a step toward better co-parenting.
Keke Palmer’s new album, Just Keke, is a very personal record of the last two years in her life. She says it’s “not just an album; it’s my real life,” a journey that is honest and raw. The first track on the album, “Off Script,” seems to clear up misunderstandings about how she had her son Leo. It’s clear that Leo “was brought in purposefully.”
On her new album, Keke Palmer tells it like it is, with no filters.
A song on Keke Palmer’s new record that shows her clear disappointment is one of the most talked-about parts:
“Even though I let you get me pregnant, you still don’t love me. You hear but don’t listen!” What the heck, how else can I prove it!? Was going to be my Steadman, but you went on that baby daddy stuff instead!”
Steadman Graham is famous for being Oprah Winfrey’s loving, long-term partner and for never trying to take the spotlight off of her.
Palmer has been incredibly honest about her choice to talk about such personal things in public in interviews for Just Keke.
“When I talked about my son, it was like, you do think that when you and someone else decide to have a kid, you’ve both made that choice. That was…my son was brought in on purpose to show that we were on the same page. “But that’s not what it means,” she told The Breakfast Club. I believe this is even more true after having a child. You begin to see things differently than you did before. That any worries you have are the same worries they have, because you went from a one to a two and now to a three. Having a child will really test a relationship and show you what kind of person you need to be to be there for that kid.
She also said that Jackson had heard the record and was “really proud” of her for being so honest. This shows that, despite their past, they are communicating more maturely as co-parents now.
Just Keke can now be streamed on all services.
