Keke Palmer’s boyfriend Darius Jackson admits to holding her to ‘perfect standard’

Pair went public with their relationship in 2021

Keke Palmer’s boyfriend, Darius Jackson, has confessed that he’s held her to a “perfect standard” during their relationship.

The pair reflected on going public with their romance in 2021 during a new episode of the actor’s podcast, Baby, This is Keke Palmer, which was recorded before Jackson sparked controversy with his now-viral comments shaming his partner’s outfit.

During the episode, Jackson said it wasn’t easy for him to introduce his relationship to the public eye. “At first, it definitely was hard because it could all be very overwhelming. It was definitely overwhelming and intense at first,” he said, before Palmer agreed and added: “It was.”

According to Jackson, once his love life was placed under the spotlight, he felt a “pressure to be perfect”. He admitted that this feeling caused him to hold Palmer to a certain “standard”.

“And so, it really confused me and infiltrated my mind because not only did I have to hold myself to that perfect standard, I was also holding you to a perfect standard as well,” he said.

He noted that if there was “any moment of flaw on [his] side” or on Palmer’s side, “it was World War III,” a sentiment that Palmer agreed to as she added: “And now the world sees us.”

Palmer continued to describe the “pressure” she felt as a result of her relationship with Jackson, with the actress explaining that they want to be open about their lives while also maintaining their “privacy”.

“We are very proud and there are things that we want to share, our public personas, brands, with one another,” she said. “But at the same time we do want to be able to maintain the privacy of our relationship, and I feel like we’ve done such a good job at being able to do that.”

The conversation was released amid backlash over Jackson’s choice to publicly shame Palmer for wearing a sheer dress to an Usher concert despite being a mother to their five-month-old son, Leodis “Leo” Jackson.

“It’s the outfit tho [sic]… you a mom,” Jackson tweeted in response to a video of Palmer being serenaded by Usher at his Las Vegas residency.

After finding himself the subject of criticism over the remark, Jackson then doubled-down on his opinion, writing: “We live in a generation where the 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.”

He added: “This is my family and my representation. I have standards and morals to what I believe. I rest my case.”

After Jackson made the comments, Palmer didn’t hesitate to share subtle social media responses addressing the drama. Hours after he shared his tweet, Palmer took to Instagram to share additional photos of her glammed-up look.

“I wish I had taken more pictures but we were running late!” she captioned the post, which was met with praise from her fans. “I am telling y’all right now, if you haven’t seen @usher YOU MUST GO!! HE WAS SO FABULOUS!!”

During an interview with The Cut, published on 10 July, Palmer was asked about her “mental headspace” after Jackson was branded “insecure” for shaming her outfit. In response, the Hustlers star described the newfound confidence she’s gained since welcoming her first child earlier this year.

“After having my baby, I’ve just gotten so much more powerful,” she said. “I’ll be honest, I think before I even had the baby, I was really actually quite self-conscious. In a way that you would expect, considering the kind of work that I do as a public figure - always trying to be on point with my body and always trying to make sure I’m taking care of this and that. There’s a lot of physical attention.”

While she gave no mention of her and Jackson’s current relationship status, the True Jackson, VP star did share a message to the fellow mothers who came to her support and “defended her integrity” amid the drama.

“Do you, new moms. Do you,” she added. “Girl, if there’s one person on this earth that loves you for sure, it’s that baby. Be happy, because there’s no love like it. Somebody loving you like that, hell, who cares?”