I hated my parents for a long time: Keke Palmer on growing up as a child breadwinner

Keke Palmer, known for her early breakout roles in Akeelah and the Bee and True Jackson, VP, recently shared her struggles as a young breadwinner for her family. 

Speaking candidly in an interview with The Cut, Palmer admitted that she resented her parents for years due to the immense pressure placed on her shoulders at a young age.

“I hated my parents for a long time,” Palmer said. She explained how her family depended on her income, creating an unspoken but ever-present burden. 

“There was so much pressure to rise to the occasion for my community, for my parents, for my siblings, for their sacrifices. They weren’t saying it, but that was the reality. Because I’m the one that we all came here for.”

Palmer’s parents closely monitored her roles, turning down opportunities they deemed unsuitable, such as a role in Half Nelson after her breakout performance in Akeelah and the Bee. 

“They didn’t think it was good for me to play a drug dealer,” she recalled, adding, “They were very cautious about the roles I played as a young Black child.”

Despite finding success with True Jackson, VP in 2008, Palmer was acutely aware of the limitations placed on her as a young Black actress in Hollywood. 

She said bluntly, “I wasn’t necessarily in the same conversations as Victoria Justice or Selena Gomez or Miley Cyrus at that time. It was very much ‘That’s the Black Show’ or ‘That’s Keke Palmer, the Black girl on the network.’”

Her role in True Jackson, VP felt personal, as it mirrored her own life experience. “She was climbing a corporate ladder, working a grown-up job as a kid. I felt the same way,” Palmer said. “She was making it happen for herself independently in the world. Growing up with that character — it bled over into how I wanted to show up, how I want to deal with life.”

Palmer’s interview with The Cut wasn’t the first time she opened up about her complicated feelings towards her early fame. 

In November 2024, she shared a similar emotional account on Club Shay Shay with Shannon Sharpe, where she reflected on the sacrifices her family made and the emotional toll it took on her as a child star.

“My parents at best made $40,000 a year when I was growing up. I was making that [per] show,” the actress shared during the interview. 

She described how her parents controlled her money and gave her an allowance. Despite the resentment she once felt, Palmer acknowledged the sacrifices her family made. “Somebody could say, ‘That was your money,’ but we are a family. And everybody sacrificed.”

Palmer recounted how her father gave up his pension after 15 years on the job and how her mother put her dreams on hold to support her budding career. 

“What’s mine is theirs and what’s theirs is mine,” she said. “And I would give up and sacrifice 20 more years of my life working in this industry so I could provide and we could have the business we have today.”

Sharpe pointed out that it’s unusual for a child to be responsible for supporting an entire family. Palmer became emotional, admitting she understood the weight of that responsibility early on, but “wore it like armour.” 

Despite the pressure, she said she remained focused on the opportunities it brought. “Life is a lonely place. And when you have your family … if you’re the one, then you’re the one. That’s it. That’s the way it was.”

Reflecting on her sacrifices, Palmer added, “I could be sad, but why? Look what I gained. I gained so much more than what I sacrificed.”

Now 31, Palmer is determined to take control of her narrative and no longer compares herself to others. “I don’t compare myself to anyone,” she told The Cut. “But I definitely don’t compare myself to any white person.”