Keke’s Baby Daddy Was the Red Flag We All Saw Flying High

Warning: This story includes references to domestic violence and abuse.

In a surprise that was not surprising in the least, Keke Palmer’s baby daddy turned out to be exactly who he showed himself to be earlier this year, a controlling abuser.

In July, Usher sang to the popular starlet, in a move some in the entertainment industry would call entertainment. Even more shocking, apparently, Usher sings to women almost nightly, including other entertainers, and then when he is done goes about his business. Unfortunately, it was all too much for Keke’s baby daddy, who also took issue with her outfit, an outfit that was surely nothing more outrageous than what he, himself, had photographed her wearing.  One of the things he took issue with was that he felt her behavior was unbecoming of his “wife,” and mother of his child. According to Keke, as well as stills from in-home video footage, Darius Jackson, the father of her child, is seen trying to physically overpower her in numerous frames.

It’s interesting how respectability politics rarely comes from the respectable. 

At the time of the initial debacle of Ushergate, many women supported her right to essentially wear what she pleased and pointed out that the outfit was not inappropriate. However, many men disagreed. Many men felt that a woman should respect her position in the family unit by falling in line and not disrespecting her man. The same man who went on an internet tirade and publicly embarrassed the mother of his child clearly would have few qualms with doing it privately. 

If her account about his behavior was not enough, the stills really seal the deal as to what type of person he is, and her other accounts of his behavior are classic tactics that an abuser uses.  One of the scariest parts of the ordeal is his alleged behavior towards and in front of their infant son. She alleges that not only did he strike her in front of their son, but that he also screamed obscenities about her to him. Their son, Leodis, will be one in February. She continues that he threatened to shoot himself in the head if she left him. This is the same man who alleged that the motivation for his internet outbursts in July were the preservation of his family unit. Keke was granted full temporary custody of their son without him receiving visitation, which is a necessary precaution because, according to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, child abuse occurs in 30 to 60% of homes where there is already spousal violence. Controlling behaviors by people who feel entitled to unchallenged compliance of their partner or even who feel their partner (another ADULT) is their property generally will not pause that cruelty for someone they feel even more entitled to have ownership over, someone they helped to create and is even more defenseless.

It is unfortunate that so many women were right about who Darius Jackson turned out to be, even more unfortunate because their story so closely paralleled Keke’s.

They saw the signs and red flags back in July.

Unlike so many women who are victims of partner violence, Keke has the finances to weather a potentially long legal battle, the additional increase in her safety measures and the burden of possibly having to raise baby Leo alone. It takes a woman, on average, seven times to leave a domestic violence situation before she fully and safely leaves.

Since she was spotted out with him since the Usher concert back in July, I can only hope that one time counts as seven.