Keke Palmer appears to be having second thoughts about talking to Jonathan Majors on her podcast, after receiving serious pushback on her decision to host the actor who was convicted of assaulting and harassing his ex-girlfriend.
Majors has been on a redemption tour as he promotes his new film Magazine Dreams, sitting for multiple interviews where he talks a lot about personal growth while refusing to truly address the actions for which he was convicted. None of his interviewers so far have asked him the specifics of the behavior, allowing the former Marvel actor to skirt by answering with general musings about his spiritual awakenings and self-love.
Palmer’s podcast with Wondery, Baby, This is Keke Palmer, was set to be next on Majors’ list, according to the podcast landing pages for the episode announcing an April 8 release date. Instead, an interview with rapper Kash Doll appeared for the week’s release.
Palmer has yet to address the backlash for the episode announcement, or the missing episode. The Daily Beast has reached out to Wondery and reps for Palmer for comment.
The landing page for the Majors episode, titled “No Easy Answers: Accountability and Moving Forward with Jonathan Majors,” has since disappeared behind broken links. The paywalled Wondery+ page, where the episode was set to appear first for paying subscribers, has also been removed.
The episode was taped, however, and a short clip of Palmer chatting up Majors giddily was released to promote the interview. Palmer plays a game of “This or That” with the actor, in which he chooses “owning the past” over “rewriting the future.”
Palmer asks why, but quickly moves on when Majors asks whether the question should be taken “personally”—a good opportunity to address the matter at hand. She assures him the question was to discover his “concept around time” and offers him a fist bump moments later—hardly the “true accountability” promised by the description of the unreleased episode.
Social media immediately erupted after Palmer’s interview with Majors was announced earlier this month, with users questioning her choice to have him on the show—particularly after Palmer herself endured domestic abuse from her child’s father, as was revealed in a custody dispute in November of 2023.
“The thing about Keke giving Majors a platform on the basis of accountability is… he hasn’t ever taken accountability,” wrote one user. Another indicated that the Majors episode may have been missing from the show pages since April 4: “Bullying works,” they wrote.
Majors was convicted of misdemeanor reckless assault in the third degree and harassment of his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, stemming from an incident in March of last year. Despite his conviction in December, he’s never admitted to his actions and even attracted a defamation suit from Jabbari after he publicly denied her accounts. She later dropped that suit.
Last month, in the middle of his promotional tour, Rolling Stone published a recorded phone call between Majors and Jabbari that allegedly reveals the actor admitting to “strangling” her in a separate incident from the one that landed him in court.
The one-time rising star had his whole career come crashing down when Jabbari’s accusations became public and the ensuing trial took over the media. Since being confronted with the “strangling” tape while promoting his film, Majors has responded only about “God’s plan” and “doing the work.”
