Keke Palmer is reevaluating her inner circle amid her tumultuous custody battle with ex Darius Jackson.
The “Nope” star, 30, posted an introspective caption on Instagram Wednesday in which she hinted that someone close to her is secretly not rooting for her happiness.
“Sometimes people don’t want to be your friend, they just don’t want to be your enemy,” she wrote alongside a sultry selfie in a white robe and wearing a red lip.
“They can’t be cool with you but they don’t want you to know, even though you already do.”
Palmer then noted that some of those frenemies strategically keep you “close enough” so that they “can use you at an opportune time without having to have shown any loyalty.”
She concluded, “It’s so much easier to be honest, no one trusts a coward.”
Palmer did not go into further detail about whom she was speaking, but the cryptic quote comes after the “Password” host’s nasty split from Jackson.
When she filed for custody of their now-11-month-old son, Leodis, in November 2023, Palmer accused her ex-boyfriend of physically and emotionally abusing her.
The “Akeelah and the Bee” star shared with police home security footage that allegedly proved Jackson had been violent toward her throughout their relationship.
“At that point, he lunged at me, grabbing at my neck and face, knocked me backwards over the couch, stole my phone out of my hands and then ran out of the house,” she claimed of a Nov. 5, 2023, incident in court documents.
She added of an alleged separate incident in February 2022, “In the bedroom, he slammed me on the floor and slapped my head from side to side. The next morning, he was standing at the bottom of the stairs near the front door, screaming at me as I was coming down the stairs.”
Palmer was granted a temporary restraining order against Jackson shortly after, and it was recently extended an additional six months while the exes continue to sort out their custody matters.
The “Alice” star was also given temporary sole physical and legal custody of the infant with no visitation rights for the fitness instructor.
However, in December 2023, Jackson filed for his own restraining order against Palmer, claiming she had been “verbally and physically” abusive to him for years.
He alleged in court documents that one such incident took place in August 2021 when the “Hustlers” star got “agitated and aggressive” and “punched” him in the face at a birthday party.
Palmer and Jackson’s allegations will continue to be evaluated further in court. They are due back for a hearing on July 16 when Palmer’s restraining order against Jackson is also set to expire.
The former couple began dating in July 2021 and appeared happy together when they welcomed Leodis in February 2023.
However, the cracks in the relationship began to show last summer when Jackson publicly shamed Palmer for an outfit she wore to an Usher concert.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
