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Keke Palmer Files Restraining Order Against Darius Jackson, Requests Full Custody of Their Young Son
Actress Keke Palmer has filed a restraining order against Darius Jackson and is seeking full custody of their 8-month-old son, Leodis, Life & Style can confirm.
Keke, 30, accused Darius, 29, of abusing her throughout their two-year long relationship, according to court documents filed on Thursday, November 9, and obtained by Life & Style. She not only alleged multiple instances of “physical violence” in the court documents, but claimed in the filing that the altercations involving Darius included “destroying my personal property, including diaries and prescription eyeglasses, throwing my belongings into the street, throwing my car keys to prevent me from driving away, hitting [me] in front of our son, spewing profanities about me to our son, threatening to kill himself with a gun if I left him, harassment, and other physical and emotional abuse.”
Keke specifically pointed to an alleged incident between her and Darius caught oncamera from November 5, where he reportedly “trespassed” into the actress’ home without her “knowledge or consent.” According to the court documents, Darius subsequently “threatened” Keke before allegedly “lunging for my neck, striking me, throwing me over the couch and stealing my phone.”
In her filing, Keke claimed that she and Darius were in “a dating relationship” before they “finally ended for good” in early October. Their split came not only after a public altercation over an outfit Keke wore that Darius deemed inappropriate, but was “primarily due to the physical and emotional abuse inflicted on me by Darius throughout our relationship.”
“It is because of our son, Leo, that I was finally able to end my relationship with Darius once, and for all, and escaped the abuse,” Keke alleged in the court filing. “Leo is the most important thing in the entire world to me; he needs and deserves to be safe and grow up in an environment free from violence.”
Keke and Darius appeared to have a stable and very private relationship, but that all changed in July when Darius shamed her over an outfit she chose to wear to an Usher concert.
“It’s the outfit tho … you a mom,” Darius tweeted on July 5, alongside a video of Keke dancing with the singer. He didn’t stop there, and followed his original tweet with, “We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife [and] mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others [and] he gets told how much of a hater he is [sic]. This is my family [and] my representation. I have standards [and] morals to what I believe. I rest my case.”
Keke, meanwhile, seemingly responded to the diss when she launched a new merch line just two days later. “One thing is certain and one thing is true, IM A MOTHA, through and through! [sic]” Kekewrote via Instagram. “‘IM A MOTHA’ and ‘Stevie to the bullshit’ shirts available NOW!”
She added, “To all my mom’s out there, how did your baby change you?? Mine empowered me! On such another level, my perspective changed because when my baby is good I’m GREAT! Look at that face! Gratitude galore.”
Darius and Keke’s public fight wasn’t the first time that they were in conflict about her wardrobe choices, however, according to the court filing. The actress alleged that in February, Darius “choked me and body slammed me onto the stairs in my home after becoming violently jealous and irrationally angry over a bikini picture.”
While the Nope actress indicated in the filed court documents that she and Darius tried to attend couples therapy, his alleged behavior “would get bad again.” “Given Darius’ uncontrolled, violent outbursts in the past whenever he became jealous, I became seriously concerned he would hurt our son, even if it was just to hurt me,” Keke detailed in the court documents, before recounting an alleged incident that happened shortly before she ended their relationship permanently.
“On September 26, 2023, I was concerned for Leo’s safety after Darius became very frustrated with him when there was crying while Darius changed his diaper,” she detailed. “Darius started getting rough with Leo physically, and I stepped in to make sure Darius would not hurt him. Darius was angry, and it almost became a tug-of-war with Leo. Darius finally let go, and Leo was not harmed, but as I was holding Leo, trying to comfort him and finish changing his diaper, Darius hit me in the head before storming out of the room.”
