Keke Palmer may be young, but she certainly has nothing to prove. Since before the age of 13, she’s been entertaining audiences in film, television and even music. As a former child star on Nickelodeon’s True Jackson, VP, Palmer became one of the highest-paid young actresses on TV and proved naysayers wrong when she nailed her role as Chilli in VH1’s TLC biopic, CrazySexyCool (one which she also landed a NAACP nomination).
But even with her undeniable success and mega fame, the 20-year-old is taking her multifaceted career to new terrain as the host of her own talk show on BET called Just Keke, making her the youngest talk show host in television history.
In an exclusive interview with BlackEnterprise.com, Palmer speaks on why a show of this caliber is so necessary for today’s millennial generation and whether being young—she’ll be 21 in August—affects how she’s perceived in the boardroom. She also opened up about her frustration on sometimes being misunderstood on social media.
Find out how the show came to be, what television host has inspired her and what impact she hopes Just Keke will make when it premieres Monday, June 30 at 5 p.m. EST.
BlackEnterprise.com: How did the idea of a talk show come about? Did BET approach you or did you already have the idea in mind and shopped it around to networks?
Keke Palmer: Yea I shopped the idea to Telepictures and then I shopped it to networks. It had been a year of actual ‘I gotta do something,’ and then a couple of years of just thinking about it [before BET picked it up].
How did the idea for the name Just Keke come about and did you play a role in that decision?
I didn’t play a role in picking the name. The producers were thinking, ‘What about Keke Palmer?’ or ‘What about just Keke?’ and somebody was like, ‘I love that. Just Keke.’ In reality, they meant literally ‘just Keke,’ but everyone ended up loving Just Keke.
What can viewers expect from the show? Will it be modeled after previous talk shows?
I think all talk shows have the foundation of the original format but this one is definitely for this generation … the millennials. It’s going to involve a lot of social media. I don’t want to give too much away, but only people of this generation will appreciate it at that level.
What talk show host do you look up to the most and why? Are there any skills or nuggets that you picked up on that you feel will influence your hosting?
As far as my hosting skills there’s nothing that I can say I picked up on that I know of. I think that I pick up a lot of things from different people all the time. One of the things about me that I’m proud of is that I’m very observant. I think I learn the best when I’m just watching people, but I don’t know exactly what is that I pick up. As far as hosts that have inspired me, Oprah Winfrey has inspired not only as a host, but in life.
Have you gotten any advice from other talk show hosts? I know you have a close relationship with Queen Latifah…
Queen was definitely like, ‘Just be yourself. I feel like you’re cut out for this, just be yourself and you’ll be fine.’
How hands-on are you with this talk show? Are you responsible for the hiring and managing of staff? Will you be choosing segment topics, etc.?
I’m not in charge of hiring people, but I’m definitely involved with the creative process – every part of it, especially suggesting what we should we talk about. But as far as putting a format together, I’ve never done that before so it’s pretty much I’m the raw information and they kind of just shape it.
Are there some things you feel talk shows today are missing that you will incorporate with Just Keke?
[Talk shows] are lacking to a certain extent but it’s more so my generation’s voice is lacking today. There’s not a show out that really allows us to have a conversation that we need to have. It’s either one extreme or the other; we’re either not talking about it or just taking about the ratchet side of it. We’re not talking about the in between.
This talk show is certainly a career turning point for you; not only is it your first time hosting, but you’re the youngest talk show host ever. Do you have any nerves or trepidations going into it?
I think people definitely saying that makes me a little bit anxious, but I always take pressure and embrace it because when you embrace the pressure you come out with diamonds. I think it’s a good thing.
Because you were a child star, that’s often been your brand, however, since becoming an adult you’ve come into your womanhood and shown a more sexy and outspoken side. What kind of an impact do you think the JustKeKe talk show will have on your brand?
I think it’ll definitely change my brand, but not in a way that I know of. I definitely know because it’s something so different it’s another thing added to the things that I do, but I don’t think it’s something anyone expected, not even me before when I started acting and entertaining. It was definitely something born from my experiences and what I learned along the way. But I’m not sure what type of effect it will have, but I know it will have a good one.
From a business and brand perspective, you seem be very strategic in what projects you align yourself with…is that so? And can you explain what are the things you look for when making such business decisions.
I’m really actually not that
strategic. I just follow my heart, and I think that’s my strategy because everything that I’ve chosen, everything that I’ve gotten, everything that I wasn’t going to get but ended up getting or got put off for a while, it all aligned itself to appear at the right time. That’s why I always tell people to follow what you love to do, hold on to your morals and do what makes you happy.I’m sure you often find yourself in many business meetings. Have you ever experienced people making assumptions about you or discrediting you because you’re young?
Oh yeah, all the time in the entertainment business. I know that I lack experience, but sometimes it about how people approach me about it. But at the end of the day I know I don’t know everything. Most of the time I just shut my mouth and just listen long enough to hear if they have something worth me taking in or if they’re just being ignorant.
It looks like you’ll be balancing other projects simultaneously while taping of the show. How do you find balance?
I really don’t know how I find balance. My schedule has been like this before when I did True Jackson VP, but now it’s even more. My mom always does my schedule because she’s my manager as well, so it comes to a point where I don’t know what I’m doing until the day I’m doing, and I just go. I’m a workaholic. Working and entertaining has always been my life, it’s been my hobby, it’s been a release, it’s been my everything in one. This talk show I don’t think is any easier, but it’s so relieving because I’m just being me. But in some ways it can also be nerve wrecking too because I am just being me (laughs). However, it’s not to say that it’s something I’m not ready for.
As a millennial, you’re also very active on social media. What kind of impact has it made in your career? Do you often feel like you’re misunderstood?
Social media has impacted by brand in a way that I feel people sometimes think that I think I know everything. I’m a regular young woman who’s learning and just trying to share something that might help somebody else. And a lot of things that I tweet are not always things that I go through. One of the main things that annoy me the most is when people start doing the name calling and stuff like that. It just irritates me because people can’t hear how I’m saying stuff [on social media], so they assume that I’m in the bed crying my eyes out when I write something deep, and it’s not always like that.
Sometimes there are times when I’m going through something and tweet to my followers because I know somebody out there is going through that too, and it may be an emotional moment for me. But a lot of times the things that I tweet that get people the most revved up I’m really just talking in a normal tone. I’m really just talking about what I see, what I know girls gp through, what I watch, what I know to be true because I’ve seen it happen. A lot of it just me expressing the wisdom that I’ve acquired over the years, but I always remind my followers that wisdom does not exempt you from experience.
And that’s why I’m so excited about the show because I’m a very bubbly person. I’m not the angry type. Every now and then I get revved up, but it is a very sensitive thing to me and I know it’s a very sensitive thing to other people who are very passionate. When people misinterpret my passion for anger, I hate it because everything I’m saying is coming from such a loving place. I’m just so excited to get it out.