Keke Palmer courageously unveils her harrowing experience as a victim of child-on-child sexual abuse, ahead of the November 19th release of her upcoming book, 'Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative.' In this candid conversation with People magazine, the versatile actress and singer opens up about the distressing incident that occurred when she was just five years old, revealing she was molested by a peer.
"People often overlook the reality of child-on-child molestation, but it's a distressing phenomenon that does exist," Palmer shares. "I felt eerie and violated, yet I was at a loss to comprehend my feelings. All I knew was that I harbored these bizarre emotions and thoughts, making me feel somewhat disoriented and overwhelmed."
Passionate about performing from a tender age, the 'Baby, This is Keke Palmer' host secured her maiden small role at ten in the 2004 film 'Barbershop 2.' However, it took another two years for Palmer to grasp the profound impact of the trauma she had undergone.
"While reading a book on sexual abuse, I stumbled upon descriptions of anxiety and hyper-sexualization," she reminisces, "I had attributed these feelings to myself, but in retrospect, they were rooted in my traumatic experience."
Once she managed to process the incident, Palmer emphasized, "It wasn't about casting blame on that child. Sometimes, we're unaware of the experiences that shape us, especially when they don't conform to societal expectations."
Palmer's star continued to rise in the following years, securing the lead role in Nickelodeon's 'True Jackson VP.' She has since starred in numerous projects, including 'Scream Queens,' 'Hustlers' in 2019, and 'Nope' in 2022.
Reflecting on her family's reaction to her meteoric rise to fame at such a young age, she said, "Fame left us in awe. It was astonishing to realize I could earn so much money, to visit Universal Studios and be mobbed by a hundred people at once. The immense pressure of fame was genuinely overwhelming, and it affected us all in varied ways."
