KeKe Palmer doesn’t think there’s anything offensive about what some are calling offensive stereotypes on Scream Queens. In fact, she thinks part of the charm is the show’s over-the-top nature.
“I love that she’s from Oakland. I also love that she has attitude, she has kickback. She’s smart. She’s not a one-note character. Yes, she has funny lines, one-liners, but ultimately, she is the one that can obviously see that something is not right,” Palmer said of her character, Zayday Williams.
“Being the only African-American female that’s part of the sorority, I think as an actor, it’s up to me to be honest about what I am comfortable with and what I’m not comfortable with. I get to work with people every day that respect my opinion just as much as they respect everybody else’s. That plays a big part in why I was not offended by any of that,” she added.
Palmer went on to say that even though Zayday is often the butt of the jokes, she isn’t offended.
“I definitely did think about some of the jokes. Ultimately as an actor, you have to try to find a way to not be personal, but really look at the artwork for what it is trying to show,” she said. “‘Scream Queens’ is a satire, and it’s meant to exaggerate the thoughts and desires of the millennial today, as well as have fun in totality.”
According to the L.A. Times some reviewers of Scream Queens are offended by the series attempt at humor, citing”the “white mammy” and Gone With the Wind references” as off-base, and indicating that “slavery and the subservient black images from that film were not a laughing matter.”