In November, Keke Palmer filed a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend Darius Jackson, alleging that he physically and emotionally abused her throughout their two-year relationship. Palmer is also seeking sole custody of their 8-month-old son, Leodis. But a few weeks after her initial filing, Palmer and Jackson decided to mediate their custody arrangement privately and requested that a hearing regarding the restraining order be postponed.
According to People, in the original restraining order filing Palmer alleges that during their relationship there were “many instances of physical violence,” including Jackson “grabbing me around the neck, destroying my personal property, including diaries and prescription eyeglasses, throwing my belongings into the street, throwing my car keys to prevent me from driving away, hitting me in front of our son, spewing profanities about me to our son, threatening to kill himself with a gun if I left him, harassment and other physical and emotional abuse.”
Although the relationship apparently ended in October, Palmer alleges that the abuse did not. Shortly before the restraining order was filed, she says, “Darius trespassed into my home without my knowledge or consent, threatened me, then physically attacked me — lunging for my neck, striking me, throwing me over the couch, and stealing my phone when I told him I was going to call the police.” According to People, the filing includes screenshots of security-camera footage of a man striking a woman over a sofa.
Describing another incident of abuse that she says took place in February 2022, Palmer alleges that Jackson “body slammed [her] onto the stairs by her neck.” Two months later, while they were at a restaurant together, Jackson allegedly became angry with Palmer and accused her of flirting with a woman, leading the two to leave. When they got home, Palmer claims “Darius grabbed my prescription eyeglasses away from me, threw them on the ground and stomped on them. He then opened my bag, threw all of my belongings onto the pavement in the rain, and threw my car keys across the parking lot before he got into his own car and drove off.”
Palmer says the abuse wasn’t just physical. “Darius would ‘love bomb’ me and make me feel like I was the most important woman in the world, only to get extremely distant and cold over a perceived insult to him. If we were at a party or event, and I spoke with one person too long or looked at someone ‘a certain way’ he would storm off in a rage telling me I was a ‘slut’ and a ‘whore,’ accuse me of cheating on him, and that I did not love him. Darius had a way of gaslighting me to make me feel like I was doing something wrong even though I wasn’t.”
Court documents obtained by “Page Six” state that Palmer and Jackson started mediation in late November. The exes agreed to continue talking at a “mutually agreeable date” that has yet to be set.
But then, on December 15, Jackson filed a response to Palmer’s request for the restraining order and requested joint custody of the couple’s son. In court documents reviewed by People, Jackson alleges that Palmer was the “primary aggressor” throughout their relationship and claims that she was physically and verbally abusive toward him. Jackson claims that the actress punched, choked, and hit him. He says that on one day in November 2021, Palmer “called him over 200 times and sent him over 50 emails” after he “told her he would not spend the night with her.” He claims that he changed his phone number four months later in an attempt “to avoid further harassment and threats” from Palmer. Jackson says that the video included in Palmer’s filing of him “trespassing” is “misleading.”
The public got a glimpse of the apparent instability of Palmer and Jackson’s relationship over the summer when Jackson commented on a photo of Palmer, shaming her for an outfit she wore to an Usher concert. Following that incident, fans speculated that the two had broken up, but, according to the filing, the relationship ended “for good” in October.
The Cut has reached out to a representative for Palmer for comment and will update this post when we hear back.
This post has been updated.
