By Eve Buckland and Paul Farrell For Dailymail.Com
17:09 10 Nov 2023, updated 17:32 10 Nov 2023
- Palmer is seeking full custody of her eight-month-old son Leodis after accusing her baby daddy Darius Jackson of domestic violence
- Jackson’s only response to the shocking allegations was to post a picture of his son and say: ‘I’ll see you soon’
Keke Palmer’s mother has broken her silence after the actress accused her ex Darius Jackson of repeated ‘physical and emotional abuse’ – and claimed she told his brother Sarunas he was abusive one year ago.
Palmer, 30, is seeking sole custody of the couple’s eight-month-old son Leodis and is looking for a restraining order against Jackson – on Friday, DailyMail.com obtained shocking surveillance camera images of Palmer being beaten by Jackson, with the images obtained from court documents.
Palmer’s mother Sharon took to Instagram on Thursday to share a video message slamming his brother Sarunas for branding Jackson ‘a disgusting, vile, abusive, manipulative person’ in a now deleted Tweet.
Shayla said: ‘For Sarunas Jackson to post on his Twitter the ridiculous stuff he posted when he knew his brother was abusive.
‘I went to Sarunas over a year ago and told him that his brother was abusive to my daughter, and he said, “Well, I used to be like that too”’
‘So now he’s posting on Twitter like he’s this special guy when we know he’s the biggest f***boy in Hollywood; he’s disrespectful to women just like his brother.’
She also claimed Sarunas ‘taught his brother how to be abusive’ and added: ‘He don’t get to act like he’s this special guy. No. You’re a f***boy, and you’re part of the problem.’
The video was captioned: ‘I dare you , mess with my family. family means everything to me ! you and your family act like sociopaths and like the world can’t see it. you are phony ! and i saw you from day one, my daughter is kind and our family treated you with kindness and this is how you treat it. i won’t take this laying down anymore IM DONE!’
DailyMail.com has contacted Saruna Jackson’s representative for comment.
Sarunas’ deleted Tweet on Friday read: ‘The most disgusting, vile, abusive, manipulative person I have EVER encountered in my entire life… Abuses almost everyone. Y’all will see…
‘Just send positive energy to he babies… Any child in the middle of something like this does not deserve it AT ALL. Wow. So damn sad.’
Stills from a security camera appear to show Jackson manhandling the former Nickelodeon star and hitting her while she’s leaned over a couch. In court filings, Palmer said that Jackson ‘body slammed [her] onto the stairs by my neck.’
That incident stemmed from Palmer showing Jackson a photo of her ‘workout results’ at a friend’s party, sending him into a rage, the star alleges.
Palmer accused Jackson of abusing her as recently as November 5, stating that she has security footage to back up claims that he ‘trespassed into my home without my knowledge or consent’ and ‘threatened’ her before ‘lunging for my neck, striking me, throwing me over the couch and stealing my phone.’
DailyMail.comhas reached out to Palmer’s representatives for comment on this story.
The Nope star will allow Jackson visitation rights to their son Leodis. In response, Jackson posted a picture of him holding his child on X. The caption reads: ‘I love you, son. See you soon.’
In the restraining order request, which she filed in Los Angeles on Thursday, it was noted that the relationship — which began in 2021 — ‘finally ended for good’ early last month ‘primarily due to the physical and emotional abuse inflicted.’
Palmer alleges that Jackson would also ‘love bomb’ her during their relationship.
‘The abuse during our relationship was not just physical, but emotional and manipulative. 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 “slut” and a “whore,” accuse me of cheating on him, and that I did not love him.’
‘Darius had a way of gaslighting me to make me feel like I was doing something wrong even though I wasn’t,’ she wrote in documents.
Palmer alleged there have been ‘many instances of physical violence’ with Jackson, including him ‘hitting’ her in front of their son.
In April 2022, Palmer said that she was out for dinner with Jackson in Santa Barbara when he accused her of flirting with a woman, forcing them to come home early.
‘Darius grabbed my prescription eyeglasses away from me, threw them on the ground and stomped on them. He then opened my bag, threw all of my belongings onto the pavement in the rain, and threw my car keys across the parking lot before he got into his own car and drove off,’ she alleges.
Other incidents listed by Keke reportedly involved him ‘destroying personal property, including diaries and prescription eyeglasses’ as well as throwing Keke’s ‘belongings into the street.’
She also accused him of ‘throwing my car keys to prevent me from driving away, 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.’
In her filing Keke also expressed being ‘concerned for Leo’s safety’ due to prior incidents.
She claimed that on September 26, 2023 Darius became ‘very frustrated with him when Leo was crying while Darius changed his diaper.’
Palmer explained that her former partner ‘started getting rough with Leo physically and I stepped in to make sure Darius would not hurt him.’
She continued: ‘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.’
Keke also shared incidents of emotional abuse, writing, ‘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 ‘s**t’ and a ‘w***e,’ accuse me of cheating on him, and that I did not love him.’
Keke revealed it was the birth of their son that helped her make the decision to end their relationship.
‘It is because of our son, Leo, that I was finally able to end my relationship with Darius once and for all and escape the abuse. 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,’ she wrote.
Keke and Darius’ relationship hit a rough patch when he went viral for tweeting his disapproval of a tight, sheer, thong bodysuit dress she wore to attend Usher’s Las Vegas residency in July.
At the time, he wrote online, ‘It’s the outfit tho… you a mom.’
When fans came to Palmer’s defense, Jackson doubled down as he fired off a second tweet defending himself.
‘We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife & mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others & he gets told how much of a hater he is,’ he said.
‘This is my family & my representation. I have standards & morals to what I believe. I rest my case,’ he added.
Meanwhile, Palmer did not address the situation explicitly, but appeared on Instagram to share outtakes from the evening and tell fans she wished she had taken more photos.
Usher later commented on the post, writing, ‘The Big Boss!! Thank U for coming.’
Following the incident, the pair unfollowed each other on Instagram but they later celebrated Palmer’s birthday together in August.
In an episode of her podcast Baby, This Is Keke Palmer that was recorded before the drama, Darius admitted to having high standards for his romantic partners.
In the clip, shared one week after the couple made headlines, Palmer asked Jackson how he felt when they decided to go public with their romance.
The fitness instructor revealed he felt ‘pressure’ to be perfect, and confessed to holding Keke to that same standard of perfection.
‘You almost feel that pressure of needing to be perfect,’ Jackson answered.
‘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 added.
Although fans have speculated that Keke and Darius may have broken up either before or immediately after the wardrobe drama, neither party has confirmed their current relationship status.
In August Jackson posted a short video clip of Palmer snuggling with their son on social media.
‘Happy Birthday to a one of a kind being. Hoping your 30s brings you many joys & triumphs,’ he wrote.
When Keke stopped by the Today show in September, Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager pressed her about her relationship.
‘You know, I’m going to take a page out of my girl Beyonce’s book… mind y’all’s business!’ Palmer told the hosts.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.