Actress Keke Palmer credits director Jordan Peele for being the first to pay her adequately.
In an interview with Business Insider, Palmer cited Jordan Peele’s 2022 film “Nope,” in which she starred alongside Academy Award winner Daniel Kaluuya, as the first time she was paid properly. Recognizing the importance of proper compensation and pay equity in Hollywood, particularly for Black actresses, Palmer said she does not measure her circumstances with others.
“I don’t compare — especially as a Black person, a Black woman — because it’s not a fair thing to do to myself,” Palmer told Business Insider. “I don’t think that comparing oneself makes sense in any regard, because you’re not at the same vantage point, beginning or otherwise, as someone else.”
She added, “If you are getting your needs met, that has to be at the forefront of your mind. That doesn’t mean that everything is fair, but it’s an important thing to think about and have a particular perspective about.”
Palmer has been in the industry since she was a child, with her first acting gig being in “Barbershop 2: Back in Business” (2004). At age 15, she landed the lead role on Nickelodeon’s “True Jackson VP,” becoming the first Black woman to star in her own show on the network, notes Ebony Magazine. For her most recent project, she appeared in the Issa Rae–produced “One of Them Days” (2025) alongside “SOS” artist SZA.
Palmer also stressed the importance of having multiple streams of income and she lives by example. As AFROTECHâ„¢ previously reported, Palmer, who became a millionaire at 21 years old, launched KeyTV, a digital network, in 2022. The platform serves as a home for rising creators and currently has over one million subscribers.
In her latest move, Palmer announced on Instagram that, as she approaches her 23rd year as an entertainer, she has turned her brand into a parent company “with subsidiaries and businesses that stretch across industries, from Big Boss Productions, @keytvnetwork. and so much more to come,” she wrote.
