Keke Palmer and Darius Jackson have decided not to let a little Usher drama get between them and their relationship.
In a live video posted by Jackson on Saturday (August 26) to celebrate Palmer’s 30th birthday, it’s clear that the on-again, off-again couple is apparently “on again.” The pair can be seen engaged in a full-on conversation while enjoying lunch at an unnamed restaurant, acting as though nothing had ever happened between the two of them — which, of course, prompted multiple comments about how it was “in the plan” all along. At one point, too, Jackson referred to Palmer as his “partner in crime.”
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After spending some time together celebrating the former child star’s birthday, Jackson even took to Twitter to send a special birthday wish to the mother of his child. “Happy Birthday to a one of a kind being. Hoping your 30s brings you many joys & triumphs!” he wrote.
Check out the tweet below.
Happy Birthday to a one of a kind being. Hoping your 30s brings you many joys & triumphs! pic.twitter.com/HhMJy94YxC
— Darius. (@dvulton) August 26, 2023
Eagle-eyed fans also noticed that in a birthday post of her own, Keke revealed a tattoo of Jackson’s birthdate right below her butt cheek.
Prior to this, Jackson made clear that he “wasn’t bothered” by his not-quite-ex’s appearance in Usher’s new video for “Boyfriend.”
According to a report from Radar Online on August 16, a source said Darius Jackson “is putting the drama behind him” and is “unbothered” by Keke and Usher coming together on “Boyfriend.”
While there was no official confirmation the couple, who share a five-month-old, have split, a recent report said Jackson had “moved on.”
But Jackson, for his part, flat-out denied those rumors shortly after they started making the blog rounds.
“I haven’t spoken to anyone about anything or gave permission to anyone to speak for me,” he wrote on Twitter. “So all these sites & post about me making any type of statement is false.”
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Jackson’s reply came after the initial drama kicked off in July, when he took issue with Keke’s outfit at Usher’s Las Vegas show. “It’s the outfit tho.. you a mom,” he wrote on Twitter, publicly criticizing his partner.
After facing blowback, Jackson double-downed on his stance, adding: “We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife & mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others & he gets told how much of a hater he is.
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“This is my family & my representation. I have standards & morals for what I believe. I rest my case.”
As for Usher — who just wrapped the first run of his Vegas residency — he also sat down with PEOPLE earlier this month to weigh in on the whole controversy.
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“I think everybody’s vision or a version of what they felt happened there just leads you back to just really having a good time in Las Vegas,” he said. “And that’s what I hope came out of it. Rather, it was a conversation of what was going on with us having fun in front of the audience or conversation about that song.”
He continued: “Every night I’m thinking about how the world now is going to react to this moment that I’ll have with whoever I’m choosing to sing to. But it was a pop moment, and it was fun to have at least a conversation going and we just kept it light. I don’t see anything negative happening in Las Vegas.”
