Keke Palmer opened up about her “forever postpartum” depression after she was a no-show at the 2026 Emmy Awards.
Concerned fans organized a search party for Keke when she failed to show up to present an award at the Emmy’s on September 14.
The 33-year-old actress turned up at the official opening of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 19. The $1 billion museum was founded by “Star Wars” filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson.
Keke seemed to be in good spirits as she posed on the red carpet with Tyler Perry, the Samuel L. Jacksons and the Magic Johnsons.
In an interview with theGrio.com, the single mom-of-one said she is having a rough time navigating the complicated realities of postpartum depression.
Like most first time mothers, Keke was anxious to meet her firstborn child. Then her pregnancy hormones plunged after she gave birth to her son Leodis Jackson in February 2023.
Pregnancy hormones return to the levels they were before pregnancy. But the sudden decrease in pregnancy hormones after birth can trigger a persistent depressed state in some women.
“Initially, I didn’t have many fears,” Keke told theGrio exclusively. “But then after you have them, all this other stuff starts coming up, where you’re either learning about things online or you’re hearing things in the news… It’s like, were my ears just not on? Or was I just not concerned because I wasn’t a mother?”
Keke constantly worries about Leodis and the risks he faces outside the womb. Keke admits she didn’t fully understand postpartum before. She realizes it’s not the same for every new mom. Now she says she understands it better.
“Postpartum is actually not something that really ever ends,” she said. “The symptoms can dial down, but… you’re kind of forever postpartum.” She said she relies on therapy, prayer, and other moms to help maintain her equilibrium.
“I need my whole community to be a part of helping me through this. I think all moms do, and I feel very rich in the fact that I have a big community.”
Keke is grateful for her support system that includes moms at her 3-year-old son’s school.
“They’ve made my life so full because so much for so many years, girl. My life has been just entertainment,” said the former child star. “I’ve only been operating in that main way, you know, in those expectations that come. It would be like your life just being, which I bet a lot of people can relate to when they hear this, work and home. You can’t do that,” she added. “So spending time with these moms, it opened up my ability to get out what it feels to be a mom outside of just being a mother to my son.”