Keke Palmer is a typical Black girl rock star who found success as a child star on Nickelodeon.
She was part of the cast of “True Jackson”, VP, an American teen sitcom created by Andy Gordon that aired on Nickelodeon from November 8, 2008, to August 20, 2011.
In a recent interview for The Cut‘s cover story, she explained why she doesn’t think she’s in the same conversation as other child stars like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and Victoria Justice.
Her fellow Nickelodeon alum, such as Victoria Justice, starred in Victorious between 2010 and 2013; Selena Gomez starred on Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place between 2007 and 2012; and Miley Cyrus starred in Hannah Montana for four seasons between 2006 and 2011.
In the interview, Keke Palmer reflects on her career and the Hollywood limitations of being a young Black woman.
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“I wasn’t necessarily in the same conversations as Victoria Justice or Selena Gomez or Miley Cyrus at that time. People were putting limitations” on her. “It was very much ‘That’s the Black show’ or ‘That’s Keke Palmer, the Black girl on the network.’ There is a loss of innocence that comes with the awareness that you’re treated differently that I’d accepted a long time ago.”
She added: “I don’t compare myself to anyone, but I definitely don’t compare myself to any white person.”
Palmer also talked about the difficulties of transitioning into adult roles following True Jackson, VP, saying,
“You’re at this weird age where you’re too young for the kind of roles that you would want, and you’re too old for the kind of roles you used to get. Your brand was made up of you being a kid, and you’re not a kid anymore. So you have to build a new one.”
