Warning: This story discusses allegations of domestic violence and emotional abuse.
Keke Palmer has obtained a temporary domestic violence restraining order against her ex Darius Jackson.
In documents filed in a Los Angeles court Nov. 9 and obtained by NBC News, the Nope actress accused her former partner of physically and emotionally abusing her throughout their two-year relationship and after their breakup, which she said occurred in October. Palmer and Jackson declined to comment when contacted by NBC News.
Palmer admitted in her filing that she is afraid not only for her safety but also for that of their 8-month-old son Leodis "Leo" Andrellton Jackson, alleging that since their break up, Jackson has become "even more unhinged, volatile and dangerous" to her and their child.
"So much of Darius' abuse towards me throughout our relationship was based on his insecurity and jealousy," the actress, who also filed for sole custody of Leo, stated, "that I became extremely concerned when Darius started to express jealousy about the time I was spending with our son."
Palmer continued, "Darius said very disturbing things to me that caused me to fear for our son's safety with him, including, 'how he understood why male animals in the wild want to eat their children' and, 'A man's love for his child is based on if he loves the woman.' Given Darius' uncontrolled, violent outbursts in the past whenever he became jealous, I became seriously concerned he would hurt our son, even if it was just to hurt me."
In a February 2022 incident described by Palmer, Jackson allegedly "became enraged" when she showed him a bikini photo of herself while they were at a friend's party.
"Darius spent the rest of the night yelling at me, not letting me sleep so he could keep yelling at me," she said in the filing. "In the bedroom, he slammed me on the floor and slapped my head from side to side. The next morning, he was standing at the bottom of the stairs near the front door, screaming at me as I was coming down the stairs. When I was almost at the bottom of the stairs, he grabbed me around the neck and body slammed me back onto the stairs."
Come September of this year, she became concerned for her son's safety after the former NFL star allegedly got frustrated while changing their crying baby's diaper.
"Darius started getting rough with Leo physically and I stepped in to make sure Darius would not hurt him," the 30-year-old alleged in the court papers. "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."
Palmer included in her filing what she said was home security video footage of the February 2022 incident as well as another confrontation with Jackson that allegedly occurred Nov. 5, four days before she filed for a restraining order.
During that incident, she alleged Jackson trespassed into her home and attacked her when she refused to let him take their son—who was with relatives at the time—to a football game.
"I tried to remain calm, but as I was again asking him to leave, he stood up from the chair, walked towards me, and made sure there was no furniture between us. He was yelling, leaning into me, getting into my face," Palmer alleged of the 29-year-old. "At that point, he lunged at me, grabbing at my neck and face, knocked me backwards over the couch, stole my phone out of my hands, and then ran out of the house."
The alleged emotional abuse, she revealed, was common throughout their romance, which began in June 2021.
"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 shared in the filing. "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 'w---e,' 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."
Though Jackson has not responded to Palmer's filings, he did share a photo of himself and Leo to X, formerly known as Twitter: "I love you, son. See you soon."
A hearing on the domestic violence case has been scheduled for Dec. 5.
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