Keke Palmer Slams Zendaya Comparisons Over Colourism: "I'm An Incomparable Talent"
Keke Palmer has branded comparisons to Zendaya "a great example of colourism".
Palmer — who broke out with 2006's Akeelah and the Bee and the 2008 Nickelodeon series True Jackson, VP, and is currently starring in Jordan Peele's UFO thriller Nope — doesn't like netizens to compare her with the erstwhile Disney Channel fave and Emmy-winning star of Euphoria.
Colourism is the practice of favouring lighter skin over darker skin.
Palmer got all riled up when a fan tweeted Saturday (July 23), "I'd like someone to do a deep-drive on the similarities and differences between Keke Palmer and Zendaya's careers. This may be one of the clearest examples of how colorism plays out in Hollywood.
"They were both child-stars, but their mainstream popularity is very different.(sic)"
Without replying directly, Palmer posted: "A great example of colorism is to believe I can be compared to anyone. I'm the youngest talk show host ever. The first Black woman to star in her own show on Nickelodeon, the youngest first Black Cinderella on broadway. I'm an incomparable talent. Baby, THIS, is Keke Palmer."
Palmer co-hosted GMA3: Strahan, Sara & Keke, the third hour of Good Morning America, between 2019 and 2020.
Palmer went on to reflect on her "blessed career" so far.
She added: "I've been a leading lady since I was 11 years old.
"I have over 100+ credits, and currently starring in an original screenplay that's the number one film at the box office #NOPE.
"I've had a blessed career thus far, I couldn't ask for more but God continues to surprise me."
Palmer, who made her film debut in 2004's Barbershop 2: Back in Business, previously admitted she felt "misunderstood" as a child star.
She told People in 2019: "At a young age, as a child [in the] entertainer world, your emotions are always the last thing that people care about.
"I think you get really quickly into being a people-pleaser and trying to be everything that everybody wants you to be. And so I think in a lot of that, you end up being misunderstood."
Nope opens in Singapore cinemas on Aug 18; Zendaya just started work on Dune Part 2. — BANG SHOWBIZ
Photos: TPG News/Click Photos
