Keke Palmer’s ex Darius Jackson, who is dad to their 9-month-old son Leo, alleged she inflicted physical and verbal abuse during their relationship in his response to her restraining order filing.
Content warning: This story discusses allegations of physical, verbal and emotional abuse.
Darius Jackson is addressing Keke Palmer‘s restraining order filing.
After the Nope actress was granted a temporary domestic violence restraining order against her ex in November, Jackson—who is dad to their 9-month-old son Leo—has submitted a legal response.
In court documents obtained by E! News Dec. 18, Jackson accused Palmer of being “repeatedly engaged in abusive conduct,” alleging she was “the primary aggressor” in their two-and-a-half-year relationship.
Jackson said Palmer punched, hit and choked him during several instances and alleged that she “called him over 200 times and sent him over 50 emails” in November 2021 when he “told her he would not spend the night with her.”
Additionally, in his response, Jackson—who says the pair officially broke up in October—stated that he changed his number in March 2022 “to avoid further harassment and threats” from Palmer.
Jackson’s response comes after Palmer accused her former partner of physically and emotionally abusing her in documents filed in a Los Angeles court in November.
In her request for her restraining order obtained by NBC News, the 30-year-old said she feared for her and her son’s well-being, alleging that since their split, Jackson became “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,” Palmer, who also filed for sole custody of Leo, stated in the docs, “that I became extremely concerned when Darius started to express jealousy about the time I was spending with our son.”
Palmer detailed alleged incidents of physical abuse in her filing, as well as accusing Jackson of emotional abuse, stating that it happened throughout their romance, which began in 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 said in the filing. “Darius had a way of gaslighting me to make me feel like I was doing something wrong even though I wasn’t.”
Shortly after the allegations became public, Jackson posted a since-removed photo of himself and his son to X, formerly known as Twitter, writing, “I love you, son. See you soon.”