Keke Palmer Recalls ‘Shocked’ Reaction to Ex’s Comment About Her Usher Concert Outfit

In a new interview with PEOPLEPalmer opened up about the incident with her ex, Darius Jackson, and how she handled the immediate fallout.

“There was a lot going on,” Palmer said, even before Jackson took to social media last July.

“It’s the outfit tho … you a mom,” Jackson wrote in response to a video showing Palmer wearing a sheer dress as she danced with Usher at his concert.

While Jackson dragged her online, fans were quick to come to Palmer’s defense online.

“I was speechless,” she said of seeing the uproar the next day.

“I was at a photo shoot and everybody was looking all weird. I was like, ‘Are y’all good?’ And then I randomly was on my phone and I saw,” Palmer said. “It was so crazy. I didn’t want to engage with something that wasn’t reality and fan the fire.”

In Palmer’s opinion, “I was just at a concert, doing what I do as an entertainer, creating a fun moment. How it became a storyline that me and Usher are in love, I don’t know.”

They weren’t in love and never have been, but that didn’t stop Palmer from capitalizing on all the buzz surrounding the scandal and appearing in the cheeky music video for Usher’s song, “Boyfriend.”

“As we all know, things are never really what they seem,” Palmer said.

The end of her and Jackson’s “unhealthy” relationship, Palmer said, largely stemmed from the stress of new parenting, with the pair welcoming their son, Leonidas in February 2023.

“I imagine fame,” Palmer added of their painful breakup — which included allegations of domestic violence and a custody battle that played out publicly.

“It’s just been a monkey on my back all my life. I’m used to it. But I’ve always known, and not just with my romantic relationships, but with my family, with my friends. Fame has always become a burden ,” she shared.

Palmer continued, “I live a very basic life, but fame would make you think that I go to the Usher concert and pull him off the stage and have him wrapped around my finger. You might think that, but it’s like, ‘Girl, I’m just like every other mama going out for a night.'”

“I cannot control how people perceive me. I can only control how I show up,” she added.

As for where she and Jackson stand now, Palmer said that Jackson joined the military, and the pair have found a custody agreement that works for their family.

“I’m so proud of him and happy for him,” Palmer told PEOPLE. “I feel very at ease now knowing things are under control.”