Actress and host Keke Palmer said she now sees past romances from her teen years as inappropriate. Palmer discussed the relationships in interviews and on her podcast. She also wrote about them in her memoir.
Teen Stardom and Blurred Lines
Palmer said she was 15 when she dated a 20-year-old man while filming a Nickelodeon sitcom.
“I was 15, he was 20,” she told reporters. “If I thought it was inappropriate, then I wouldn’t have done it.”
She said the work made her feel older than her years.
“But in my mind it was like, ‘I got a full-time job… Can’t nobody understand me but a grown man,’” she said.
Palmer said the relationship lasted several years. She now describes it as exploitative. She wrote more about the experience in her upcoming book.
A wider conversation with peers
On her podcast, Palmer spoke with fellow star Demi Lovato about similar past relationships. The two reflected on how their careers skewed what they thought normal.
Lovato asked aloud, “Why was my boyfriend 30?” Palmer said she had similar questions.
“At 15, I’m thinking, ‘My boyfriend’s older because I’m doing an older job,’” she told listeners.
Both women said fame made it hard to relate to peers their own age. They called the dynamics wrong.
Palmer said reflection and time helped her see the power imbalance.
“Nothing makes it right,” she said about age gaps involving teens.
She also tied the revelation to healing and parenthood. She said genuine love later in life changed how she judged past relationships.
Palmer said she wants young people to know they deserve healthy relationships. She urged audiences to question power imbalances and to speak out when something feels wrong.