June 2, 2025
Despite working since age 9, Palmer only recently scored a sizable paycheck for her acting.
Keke Palmer has entertained audiences since she was 10 years old. However, it took nearly two decades for her to feel that she received proper pay for her acting skills.
While she got her big break in the early 2000s with films like “Madea’s Family Reunion” and “Akeelah and the Bee,” the actress cites her 2022 film “Nope” as the first time she was paid adequately.
The 31-year-old told Business Insider how the Jordan Peele-directed film was her first paycheck worthy of her resume.
“‘Nope,’ that was probably the first time,” she told the news outlet.
Considering how pay gaps impact Black actors and actresses, Palmer tries not to compare her success to her Hollywood counterparts. She chooses to stay focused on her own career, especially given all the factors at play in “making it” in entertainment.
“I don’t compare — especially as a Black person, a Black woman — because it’s not a fair thing to do to myself,” Palmer continued. “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.”
The “One Of Them Days” star has always kept humility at the forefront. This gratitude for where one is at has helped her stay positive even through some unfair moments.
“If you are getting your needs met, that has to be at the forefront of your mind,” she emphasized. “That doesn’t mean that everything is fair, but it’s an important thing to think about and have a particular perspective about.”
To make up for this income gap, the one who many deem “Keke ‘Keep a Job’ Palmer’ branched out. Beyond acting, Palmer has turned to television and podcast hosting, letting her real-life personality pay the bills.
“It’s essentially why I turned my brand into a holdings company with subsidiaries. You have to diversify,” explained the entertainer.
Pay discrepancy in Hollywood remains an ongoing issue in the industry, with fellow Black actors like Taraji P. Henson previously speaking out about the wage gaps. While Palmer has not been as historically vocal about the problem as Henson, her admission of not getting a sizable check until decades into her career makes clear how this impacts Black talent across generations.
This issue is further explored in the documentary “Number One on the Call Sheet,” which features Black Hollywood giants as they dissect their plight of making it on the big screen.
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