Keke Palmer is fully embracing her mama status, following remarks from her boyfriend Darius Jackson criticizing her fashion choice as inappropriate because she's "a mom."
The 29-year-old shared a video of herself singing “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder to the baby boy she shares with Jackson, named Leodis, who is sitting on her lap in a patterned onesie.
At one point, she turns to her son and tells him, “You’re almost five months, Leo,” before continuing with the 1976 hit.
“One thing is certain and one thing is true, IM A MOTHA, through and through!” she captioned the post with a heart-eyed emoji.
Palmer then revealed that she has released merchandise from her name brand, featuring shirts with “IM A MOTHA” and “Stevie to the bulls---” written across the chest.
“To all my mom’s out there, how did your baby change you?? Mine empowered me! On such another level, my perspective changed because when my baby is good I’m GREAT! Look at that face! Gratitude galore,” she continued.
Fans couldn’t get enough of the “Nope” star’s message, with some interpreting the post as a response to Jackson's post publicly calling her out for wearing a black bodysuit under a sheer dress to Usher’s Las Vegas residency show.
“And she didn’t even address or disrespect him in public…A Queen and A Motha,” one Instagram user commented on Palmer's post.
Jackson took to Twitter July 5, sharing a video of Palmer with Usher at the performance, writing, “It’s the outfit tho.. you a mom.”
Twitter users immediately jumped on the comment, however, as one person wrote, “I liked it better when we didn’t know who you were…”
Another wrote, “Don’t date a baddie if you’re gonna be this insecure.”
Some women also pointed out that Jackson's post reflects how Black mothers are judged for what they wear as an indicator of respectability and how it leans on stereotypes.
Despite the backlash, Jackson stood by his remarks, further explaining why he publicly critiqued Palmer.
“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 & he gets told how much of a hater he is,” he wrote. “This is my family & my representation. I have standards & morals to what I believe. I rest my case.”
