Keke Palmer Reflects On Her ‘Inappropriate’ Relationship With Older Man While On Nickelodeon

Keke Palmer is speaking candidly about her journey from toxic relationships to a place of healing, joy, and self-awareness.

Reflecting on her past, the 31-year-old actress, who rose to fame on Nickelodeon’s "True Jackson VP," is sharing insights on navigating the complex emotions and challenges that came with fame and young love.

Currently, Keke Palmer is promoting her forthcoming book, "Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative," where she dives deeper into her personal growth and lessons learned along the way.

While fans are familiar with the publicized challenges she faced in her recent relationship with Darius Jackson, Palmer is now also opening up about an earlier, lesser-known relationship that deeply affected her life.

During her time on Nickelodeon's "True Jackson VP," Palmer experienced her first love—an “inappropriate” relationship with an older man."I had a great time doing True Jackson VP, but it was also a very stressful, difficult, depressive time,” she said in People's cover story, describing how the emotional impact of that relationship made her early career experience more complicated.

Palmer’s reflection on her time at Nickelodeon comes amid a wave of allegations against the network. Numerous former Nickelodeon cast and crew members have accused the network, including creator Dan Schneider and producer Brian Peck, of misconduct.

Schneider, in particular, has faced serious accusations of creating a toxic work environment, engaging in inappropriate behavior, verbal abuse, and favoritism. Keke's mom also spoke out, calling the Schneider days "cultish."

In the interview with People, Palmer reflected on a past relationship, recalling that she was just 15 years old when she dated a 20-year-old.

"I was trying to balance between being really young, but also feeling quite mature," she said, though she did not name the man. "If I thought it was inappropriate, then I wouldn't have done it."

She added, Obviously I shouldn’t have been 15 dating no 20-year-old, but in my mind it was like ‘I got a full-time job. . . . Can’t nobody understand me but a grown man.’ But he knew there was a lot of stuff that there's no damn way for me to understand at damn 15."

For years, Palmer kept the relationship—lasting until she was 20—hidden from both her parents and the public. Reflecting on it now, she acknowledges, “I wasn’t mentally able to process and understand things that would’ve made that relationship appropriate.”

According to the outlet, Palmer shared in "Master of Me," "The power dynamic 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."

"It wasn't until I was a real grown woman, and even then we know we've still got more time to grow. But by 26, 27, 28, I had finally experienced, I think, genuine love," she added of her ex Jackson. "Not that I didn't love that [other] person, but it wasn't until I'd felt what it was like for someone to love me back and to actually give me respect, that I've realized that relationship was wrong."

Earlier this year, Keke Palmer and her mother spoke out following the release of the explosive docuseries "Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV."

In a candid conversation on her podcast, Palmer reflected on her mother's concerns about her time at Nickelodeon. “I honestly do remember you having a lot to say about the Dan Schneider sets,” Palmer remarked, according to Deadline. “I remember you feeling a way about Nickelodeon.”

Palmer’s mother shared her perspective, saying, “My honest opinion is I thought the whole atmosphere of the Dan Schneider set was very weird, very cultish. The parents were very secretive, and I honestly thought they all took themselves way too seriously.”

Palmer later revealed that she felt "overly controlled and confined."

“In my experiences with you in this industry, I had moments where people tried to push us away from each other or try to come in between us,” Keke admitted. “You never would allow that kind of thing to go down. It created tension in our relationship – I definitely felt overly controlled and confined and almost like I was in a prison sometimes. But when I look back, I feel like you were really just being protective of me.”