Keke Palmer accused her ex-boyfriend Darius Jackson of physical and emotional abuse, writing in court documents that he repeatedly attacked her, invaded her home and was “very frustrated” with their 8-month-old son.
Palmer’s request for a temporary restraining order against Jackson, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, was approved by Judge Wendy L. Wilcox, according to a statement obtained by NBC News.
Palmer, whose real name is Lauren Keyana Palmer, said the abuse occurred throughout her two-year relationship with Jackson and did not stop after they broke up in early October. She wrote that since the breakup he has become “even more moody, volatile and dangerous” and she fears for the safety of her and her son.
Because of the alleged abuse, she filed for a temporary restraining order and is seeking sole custody of her eight-month-old son, Leo. The petition for the restraining order asked that Jackson be banned from contact with Palmer and Leo and that he stay at least 100 yards away from them.
“It is thanks to our son Leo that I was finally able to end my relationship with Darius once and for all and escape the abuse,” Palmer wrote in court documents. “Leo is the most important thing in the world to me; he needs and deserves safety and growing up in an environment without violence.”
Both Palmer and Jackson declined to comment when contacted by NBC News.
After Palmer filed the documents, Jackson posted a photo on the social media platform X showing him holding their son with the caption: “I love you son. See you soon.”
The petition details several times that Palmer claims she was physically assaulted by Jackson. She also claims she suffered emotional abuse and accused Jackson of “love bombing” her.
“Darius would love to bombard me and make me feel like the most important woman in the world, only to become extremely distant and cold at a perceived insult towards him. If we were at a party or event and I was talking to her. If he stood in front of a person for too long or looked at someone in a “certain way,” he would storm off angrily and tell me I was (a) “bitch” and a “whore.” “, and accused me of cheating on him, which I didn’t love him,” she wrote. “Darius had a way of pressuring me, making me feel like I was doing something wrong when I wasn’t.”
During an alleged argument on February 13, 2022, Palmer said Jackson “choked me and threw me on the stairs of my house” after he became jealous when she showed him a photo of herself in a bikini. Palmer said the couple were at a friend’s party and she showed him the picture because she was proud of her weight loss results.
Palmer said Jackson was so upset that she feared they would get into a car accident on the drive home. She claimed that when they got home he threw her to the floor and hit her “from side to side” in the head.
The abuse continued the next morning, Palmer wrote. She claimed Jackson grabbed her by the neck and slammed her on the stairs.
Palmer also claimed Jackson would destroy her property, such as a private diary she had kept since she was 12, to “punish” her.
In another alleged incident in April 2022, she said Jackson took her glasses, threw them on the floor and stomped on them because he thought Palmer was flirting with a girl at a restaurant – even though she told him not to be the case. Jackson then opened Palmer’s bag, threw her belongings on the ground in the rain and threw her car keys across the parking lot, the petition says. Jackson got into his own car and left, she wrote.
“I had to put my glasses back together as best I could so I could see how to drive, collect my now wet and dirty clothes and other belongings, and rummage through the bushes across the parking lot for my car keys before I could leave ,” the petition says.
The most recent alleged abuse toward Palmer occurred on Nov. 5, after the couple’s separation, according to the document. Palmer said she was at home talking to her mother on the phone when she was “horrified” to see Jackson burst through her bedroom door. Palmer said they didn’t live together and she didn’t allow him to come over.
According to the petition, Jackson filmed Palmer on his cell phone and demanded to see her son. Palmer wrote that she asked him to leave, but he refused to do so.
“I tried to stay calm, but when I asked him to leave again, he got up from the chair, walked towards me and made sure there was no furniture between us. He screamed, leaned on me and got in my face. That’s when he lunged at me, grabbed me by the neck and face, threw me backwards over the couch, stole my phone from my hands, and then ran out of the house,” she wrote.
Palmer said Jackson tried to drive away and when she blocked his exit with trash cans, he allegedly almost hit her with his car. After the altercation, police were called and after questioning the actress, her sister and Jackson, they asked him to leave and warned him not to come back. Officers encouraged Palmer to seek a domestic violence restraining order, she wrote.
According to the petition, Palmer’s parents, Sharon and Larry Palmer, her sisters and their friends witnessed several of the alleged incidents. Some of the abuse was also captured on surveillance video.
Palmer said she and Jackson went to couples therapy and “it would get better for a while, but then it would get worse again.”
A feud became public in July when Jackson publicly shamed Palmer over the outfit she wore to Usher’s Las Vegas residency. The video that surfaced showed the “Nope” star wearing a sheer polka dot dress with a bodysuit underneath while Usher serenaded her. Jackson shared a video clip of it and wrote: “It’s the outfit, but you’re a mother.”
Palmer later appeared in a music video for Usher’s song “Boyfriend,” sparking rumors that the couple had broken up and she was taking a swipe at Jackson.
The petition also detailed times when Jackson allegedly became frustrated with her son and cursed at her while she was talking to the baby. During an incident on September 26, Jackson allegedly began physically attacking Leo while he was changing his diaper.
Palmer said she had to intervene “to make sure Darius wouldn’t hurt him” and it “almost became a tug of war with Leo” when Palmer tried to take the baby away from him.
“Darius finally let go and Leo was unharmed, but as I held Leo and tried to comfort him and change his diaper, Darius hit me in the head before storming out of the room,” she wrote.
The actress said she submitted the petition without telling Jackson, writing that she feared for her and Leo’s safety.
“I fear the retaliation Darius might take against me, including hurting or taking away our son, if I inform him of my request for protection,” she wrote.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for December 5.