In December 2022, Keke Palmer revealed she was pregnant while hosting Saturday Night Live. This naturally cast a spotlight on the father of her baby, Darius Jackson. Keke Palmer and Darius Daulton Jackson welcomed their son, Leodis Andrellton Jackson on February 25, 2023. While the couple showered love on each other before and after the birth of their son, things seem to be moving in another direction.
Darius Jackson and Keke Palmer made headlines in July after Palmer attended Usher’s concert in Las Vegas. Jackson took to social media to publicly criticize his girlfriend’s sheer outfit as Usher serenaded her. This caused an uproar online, as fans took to the actress’s defense at the shady comment. As a result of this, Darius Jackson has had more eyes on him than ever before.
Read More: Joe Budden Jokes About The Keke Palmer Drama
Darius Jackson’s Background
Jackson has kept a low online profile for many years. Before his relationship with Keke Palmer, he was best known as the brother of actor Sarunas Jackson. Sarunas has appeared on numerous television shows, most notably Good Trouble and Insecure. Darius, on the other hand, is a fitness enthusiast and an instructor at Inspire Fitness Studio. According to his profile on the studio’s site, Darius Jackson earned a scholarship to Fresno State University.
It also stated that Jackson is pursuing a career in sports media and has received a certificate in broadcasting. Additionally, he is a major football fan, showing support for the Philadelphia Eagles through his Twitter. On Instagram, Darius has been known to change up his feed every once in a while. He’s very close with his family and posts them quite often. He also refers to himself as a writer and posts video content on his YouTube to almost 20,000 subscribers.
Relationship With Keke Palmer
Darius Jackson is most known in the entertainment space due to his relationship with actress Keke Palmer. The pair reportedly met at a Memorial Day party hosted by Issa Rae in May 2021. Darius was invited to the party by his brother Sarunas. A little over two months later, Darius posted Palmer on his page, showering her with love on her birthday.
By March 2022, rumors began to fly that the pair had split up. This was backed by the couple unfollowing each other on Instagram. Furthermore, they deleted all traces of each other on their respective pages. However, Palmer revealed to Bustle that he made her “the happiest” she’s ever been. Although the pair has remained very private since their relationship began, there have been instances of public displays of affection.
Since Keke Palmer’s SNL reveal, both she and Darius Jackson began to actively share photos of her baby bump. In addition to this, the new parents have loved their baby loudly online as well. Following Darius’ public criticism of Palmer’s outfit, the pair seem to have hit a rocky road. Both parents have, once again, unfollowed each other on Instagram and Darius scrubbed their pictures off his page, although he kept one post on his page from Valentine's Day.
Social Media Backlash
https://twitter.com/dvulton/status/1676727776341282817?s=20
As one of the most beloved personalities in media today, Keke Palmer’s fans weren’t too pleased by Darius Jackson’s “it’s the outfit tho.. you a mom” tweet. After receiving heaps of backlash, the fitness instructor deleted his Twitter for several hours. He returned to the platform and restricted engagement on his tweets. Likewise, on Instagram, he disabled all comments after fans rushed to his page to tag him as hypocritical and insecure.
It’s unclear if he and Keke are still in a romantic relationship.