Keke Palmer says motherhood has empowered her. The 29-year-old actress said she’s “gotten so much more powerful” since welcoming her son, Leodis “Leo” Andrellton Jackson, 4 months ago with ex-boyfriend Darius Jackson, 29.
“After having my baby, I’ve just gotten so much more powerful. I’m just so strengthened in a crazy way. Strutting my stuff, enjoying,” she told The Cut magazine.
The newly single mom was at a photo shoot for the cover of the July 2023 issue of The Cut when Darius publicly shamed her for dressing inappropriately at a Usher concert.
On Saturday, Darius posted a photo of his son, Leo, on his lap during a solo flight on a plane.
Keke shared a video while traveling with her son the day before. In the clip she sings Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” to her son.
She defiantly captioned her video: “One thing is certain and one thing is true, IM A MOTHA, through and through!”
Her comment was in response to Darius shaming her for wearing a black bodysuit under a sheer dress while slow-dancing with singer Usher at his 4th of July residency concert in Las Vegas.
“It’s the outfit tho.. you a mom,” Darius wrote in the caption under a video of Keke dancing with Usher.
In a follow-up tweet, he wrote, “We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife & mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others & he gets told how much of a hater he is. This is my family & my representation. I have standards & morals to what I believe. I rest my case.”
When Keke doubled down and posted more photos of the outfit, Darius took their infant son and moved back in with his mom.
Darius briefly deactivated his Twitter before returning and scrubbing all photos of Keke from his socials.
The former couple went Instagram official in August 2021. They no longer follow each other on Instagram.
“I’m just continuing to spread my wings as a young woman,” Keke told The Cut.
“My headspace is just to continue to inspire and encourage myself and anybody else who wants to go down that road with me. Because we’re growing and we are changing. It’s all about loving who I am and loving what I experienced and what I’ve gone through that’s gotten me here. A lot of gratitude for me.”
When asked to share advice with other first-time moms, Keke said, “Do you, new moms. Do you.”
She added: “Girl, if there’s one person on this earth that loves you for sure, it’s that baby. Be happy, because there’s no love like it. Somebody loving you like that, hell, who cares?”
