Keke Palmer Says She’s More Open To Love’ 3 Years After Ending Things With Her Son’s Father Darius Jackson – But Not In A Rush To Find It

Darius Jackson, Keke

Keke Palmer Says She’s More Open To Love’ 3 Years After Ending Things With Her Son’s Father Darius Jackson – But Not In A Rush To Find It

#KekePalmer is getting candid about where she stands on love following her split from her child’s father.

The multi-hyphenate star recently sat down with #WhoopiGoldberg at a 2026 Tribeca Film Festival Storyteller event in New York City. During the conversation, Whoopi asked Keke where she is with love and romance today. “I’m more open to love than I was before — especially after having my son, I was kind of like, ‘I don’t even know what it is to be touched,’” she said, laughing. “You know what I mean? You just don’t even want to be looked at. Obviously, some of that’s postpartum and obviously some of that’s just when you have a big separation.”
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Keke was previously in a relationship with Darius Jackson, the younger brother of #Insecure actor Sarunas J. Jackson, and the two share a son, Leodis “Leo” Andrellton Jackson, now 3. Their relationship appeared to be turbulent at times, including Darius publicly shaming the actress over a dress she wore to an Usher concert and Keke later filing a dome$tic v!olence restraining order, alleging multiple instances of abu$e during the relationship. The former couple ultimately reached a joint custody agreement in 2024.
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Continuing her conversation with Whoopi, Keke added that her definition of love has evolved, and she’s no longer focused on pressure or specific outcomes. “So now love looks like to me is having fun. I’m thrilled about not being so pressed about an outcome. . . I always want to just be able to experience things as they are without feeling the pressure of them needing to be a certain something to appear some way to someone else.”