Judge grants Keke Palmer temporary restraining order against ex Darius Jackson
Palmer, who was also awarded sole custody of the estranged couple’s infant son, alleges destruction of property, jealousy, and domestic violence by Jackson.
After an alleged incident between Keke Palmer and her ex, Darius Jackson, the actress filed for, and has been granted, a temporary restraining order against Jackson and sole custody of their 8-month-old son, Leodis.
According to court documents obtained by People, Parker made the filing for a domestic violence restraining order in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday in the aftermath of an incident she alleges occurred on Sunday.
In the filing, Palmer states that on Sunday, Jackson “trespassed into my home without my knowledge or consent, threatened me, then physically attacked me — lunging for my neck, striking me, throwing me over the couch, and stealing my phone when I told him I was going to call the police.”
A set of screenshots were included in the filing, and have since circulated on social media. People describes the images as “what appears to be security footage of a man striking a woman over a sofa.”.
In the filing, Palmer further explained that on Sunday, Jackson arrived at her home to take their son, Leodis, to a football game, but the child was not available because he was with Palmer’s family. After an argument allegedly ensued between Palmer and Jackson, she claims he “knocked [her] backwards over the couch, stole [her] phone out of [her] hands, and then ran out of the house.”
She continued, explaining that after following Jackson outside to retrieve her phone, he allegedly “nearly” hit her with his vehicle. According to Palmer, the entire incident was captured by her home security camera, and the footage will be used as evidence during an upcoming hearing. Palmer also alleges this is not the first time Jackson has been physically abusive during their two-year relationship.
Another incident reportedly occurred on Feb. 13, 2022, when Palmer says Jackson “body slammed” her onto a set of stairs in her home “by [her] neck.” This incident also may have been caught on some security footage.
In her filing, Palmer details several more alleged instances of physical and emotional abuse, including abuse that occurred in front of their son. She alleges that sometime around April 21, 2022, the former couple went out to eat at a restaurant in Santa Barbara when Jackson grew jealous and upset, accusing Palmer of flirting with a woman. Upon leaving the restaurant, he allegedly “grabbed [Palmer’s] prescription eyeglasses away from [her], threw them on the ground and stomped on them. He then opened [her] bag, threw all of [her] belongings onto the pavement in the rain, and threw [her] car keys across the parking lot before he got into his own car and drove off.”
Among other allegations of physical abuse, Palmer describes a string of toxic behaviors, including “love bombing,” verbal abuse, and manipulation, including allegations that Jackson would threaten to take his own life if Palmer left him.
“The abuse during our relationship was not just physical, but emotional and manipulative,” Palmer said in court documents. “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.”
She continued, “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.”
She added, “Darius had a way of gaslighting me to make me feel like I was doing something wrong even though I wasn’t.”
Attempts by theGrio to reach Jackson for comment were unsuccessful.
The public first began to suspect something was potentially amiss between the new parents in July, when Jackson reacted to footage of Palmer dancing with Usher during the singer’s Las Vegas residency. After a tweet seemingly reprimanding Palmer for her choice of dress that evening was met with backlash, Jackson defended his position online.
“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 [and] he gets told how much of a hater he is,” he wrote before temporarily disabling his account.
Since then, and mostly up until Thursday’s filing, Palmer has remained silent on their relationship status. In September, during an appearance on “Today With Hoda & Jenna,” she said, “Mind y’all business.”
In the hours since the filing, posts on social media from extended family on both sides have left many puzzled. Jackson’s brother, actor Sarunas Jackson, tweeted from a since-deleted account about an unnamed person who is “the most disgusting, vile, abusive, manipulative person” he knows.
“Y’all will see…just send positive energy to the babies…Any child in the middle of something like this does not deserve it AT ALL. Wow so d– sad,” he said.
In response to the cryptic post, Palmer’s mother, Sharon Palmer, addressed Sarunas directly in a video, alleging that she’d previously approached him about his younger brother’s abuse towards her daughter, only to be dismissed as the actor claimed he “used to be the same way.”
In Thursday’s filing, Palmer said it’s because of their son that she was finally able to end her relationship with Jackson “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 stated.
In addition to Palmer being awarded the temporary restraining order – which includes full custody of her son, no contact, no abuse, and stay-away orders – Jackson will be subjected to a firearms compliance hearing regarding a handgun he owns.
A hearing for the case has been set for Dec. 5. This story is developing.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available 24/7 by calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential.
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