Keke Palmer reflects on ‘inappropriate’ relationship with older man at age 15: Power dynamic ‘harmed me’

Keke Palmer regrets dating an older man when she was only 15, admitting the romance was “inappropriate.”

“Obviously I shouldn’t have been 15 dating no 20-year-old, but in my mind it was like ‘I got a full-time job … Can’t nobody understand me but a grown man,'” the “Password” host told People Wednesday.

Palmer became romantically involved with the unnamed man when she was starring on the hit Nickelodeon sitcom “True Jackson, VP.”

Keke Palmer reflecting on dating a man five years older than her when she was just 15. keke/Instagram The actress said she dated a 20-year-old when she was still a minor because she was “feeling quite mature.” Amy Sussman

“I was trying to balance between being really young, but also feeling quite mature. If I thought it was inappropriate, then I wouldn’t have done it,” she added.

The “Akeelah and the Bee” star recognized that because she was a minor, she wasn’t yet able to “mentally” process and “understand things that would’ve made that relationship appropriate.”

However, she added that, as an adult, she now sees how her ex “knew there was a lot of stuff that there’s no damn way for [her] to understand at damn 15.”

Palmer was starring on a hit Nickelodeon series when she was in her May-December romance. Getty Images She starred on “True Jackson, VP,” as seen here. ©Nickelodeon Network/Courtesy Everett Collection

“The power dynamic put me in a place that harmed me in ways I couldn’t have known,” Palmer said. “I didn’t have the language or the strength to accept that who he met was a child, not the woman I wanted to become.”

The “Hustlers” star, who is now 31, said it took her years — until she was a “real grown woman” — in her late 20s to finally be able to experience “genuine love.”

“Not that I didn’t love that [other] person, but it wasn’t until I’d felt what it was like for someone to love me back and to actually give me respect, that I’ve realized that relationship was wrong,” she pointed out.

Palmer said the “power dynamic” of dating an older man put her “in a place that harmed” her. ©Nickelodeon Network/Courtesy Everett Collection Palmer said she didn’t know what “genuine love” was until she was in her late 20s. Instagram/@keke

In recent years, Palmer has been in a longterm relationship with Darius Jackson, with whom she shares a 1-year-old son named Leo.

However, the couple went through a highly-publicized custody battle late last year, in which they accused each other of being verbally and physically abusive throughout their relationship.

Since then, however, it appears Palmer and Jackson have put their differences aside.

Palmer most recently dated Darius Jackson, with whom she shares a son. Instagram/@keke Jackson and Palmer’s current relationship status is unclear. Pop Crave/X

In August, they were seen spending time together with their son, shortly after dropping their respective restraining orders and custody case.

It’s unclear, though, whether the “Nope” star and fitness entrepreneur have gotten back together.

Palmer confessed to People Wednesday that having a baby was a “big stressor” for the pair.

The “Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative” author added that fame had also become a burden, sharing, “Too many voices get in. It can make everybody else not trust you. It’s hard to explain.”