In court records, Keke Palmer accused her ex-boyfriend Darius Jackson of abusing her physically and psychologically. She claimed that Jackson had hit her multiple times, broken into her home, and “became very frustrated” with their 8-month-old kid.
Judge Wendy L. Wilcox granted Palmer’s plea for a temporary restraining order against Jackson, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, as per a notification acquired by NBC News.
Palmer, real name Lauren Keyana Palmer, said that the violence continued even after their breakup in early October, having occurred over their two-year relationship. She expressed her concern for her and their son’s safety, writing that he has become “even more unhinged, volatile, and dangerous” since their breakup.
She requested sole custody of their 8-month-old baby, Leo, and applied for a temporary restraining order due to the alleged abuse. In the restraining order petition, it was requested that Jackson be kept at least 100 yards away from Palmer and Leo and be forbidden from communicating with them.
When NBC News reached out to Palmer and Jackson, they both declined to comment.
Jackson shared a picture of himself holding their son on social networking platform X after Palmer filed the paperwork, writing, “I love you, son.” See you soon.
The petition provides several details. Palmer claims Jackson physically assaulted her. Along with claiming to have experienced emotional abuse, she accused Jackson of “love bombing” her.
“Darius would ‘love bomb’ me and make me feel like I was the most important woman in the world, only to get extremely distant and cold over a perceived insult to him. If we were at a party or event, and I spoke with one person too long or looked at someone a ‘certain way,’ he would storm off in a rage — telling me I was [a] ‘slut’ and a ‘whore,’ accuse me of cheating on him, and that I did not love him,” she wrote. “Darius had a way of gaslighting me to make me feel like I was doing something wrong even though I wasn’t.”
Palmer said that during one alleged argument on February 13, 2022, Jackson “choked me and body slammed me onto the stairs in my home” after she showed him a picture of herself in a bikini, which infuriated him. Palmer claimed that she showed him the photo while they were at a friend’s party because she was pleased with how much weight she had lost.
Palmer claimed that Jackson was so irate that she was concerned about them getting into a collision on the way home. After they arrived home, she claimed he threw her to the ground and smacked her “head from side to side.”
Palmer reported that the abuse persisted the following morning. Jackson, according to her, seized her by the neck and gave her a body slam on the stairs.
Palmer further claimed that Jackson would “punish her” by destroying items she owned, including a personal journal she had kept since she was twelve.
She claimed that during a second alleged incident in April 2022, Jackson took her glasses away, threw them to the ground, and trampled on them because he believed Palmer was flirting with a girl at a restaurant, despite her denials. According to the petition, Jackson then unzipped Palmer’s backpack, threw her car keys across the parking lot, and threw her possessions on the ground in the rain. She wrote that Jackson got into his own car and drove off.
“I had to put my glasses back together as best I could so I could see to drive, pick up my now wet and dirty clothes and other belongings, and rummage in the bushes across the parking lot to find my car keys before I could leave,” the petition stated.
According to the petition, Palmer was allegedly abused most recently on November 5, following their split. Palmer claimed that she was “startled” to witness Jackson smash through her bedroom door when she was at home speaking with her mother on the phone. Palmer said that she had not given him permission to visit and that they were not living together.
According to the petition, Jackson insisted on seeing their son while recording Palmer on his cellphone. Palmer claimed that despite her requests, he would not go.
“I tried to remain calm, but as I was again asking him to leave, he stood up from the chair, walked towards me, and made sure there was no furniture between us. He was yelling, leaning into me, getting into my face. 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 wrote.
Palmer claimed that Jackson tried to drive off, and that he nearly hit her with his car when she used trash cans to block his exit.
Following the argument, police were summoned. After questioning Jackson, the actress, and her sister, they instructed him to leave and issued a warning not to return. Palmer wrote that the cops urged her to request a domestic violence restraining order.
Palmer’s sisters, friends, and parents, Sharon and Larry Palmer, reportedly saw some of the alleged occurrences, according to the petition. Some of the abuse was also caught on surveillance footage.
Palmer claimed that after attending couple’s therapy sessions with Jackson, “for a time things would get better, but then they would get bad again.”
In July, a public dispute erupted when Palmer’s attire for Usher’s Vegas residency was made public by Jackson. A leaked video showed the “Nope” actress being serenaded by Usher while she was dressed in a revealing dotted dress with a bodysuit underneath. Jackson responded, “It’s the outfit tho.. you a mom,” along with a video clip of it.
Later, Palmer made an appearance in the music video for Usher’s song “Boyfriend,” which gave rise to speculations that Palmer was making fun of Jackson and that the couple had broken up.
The petition also included instances where Jackson allegedly called her names while speaking to the infant out of frustration with their kid. Jackson allegedly “started getting rough with Leo physically” during an incident on September 26 while the boy was changing his diaper.
It “almost became a tug of war with Leo” as Palmer tried to take the baby away from him, but she had to intervene, according to Palmer, “to make sure Darius would not hurt him”.
“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,” she wrote.
The actress said that she submitted the petition—expressing concern for both her and Leo’s safety—without informing Jackson.
“I am fearful of what retaliatory actions Darius may take against me, including harming or taking our son away, if I give him notice of my request for protection,” she wrote.
On December 5, there will be a hearing on this case.
