Keke Palmer got refreshingly candid about her sexuality while revisiting a past comment about being “asexual.” The actress explained that her experience with attraction often looked very different from what she believed society considered normal.
Rather than putting herself firmly inside a label, Keke described intimacy as something driven by mental connection. She also admitted that finding genuine romantic relationships had sometimes felt surprisingly difficult.
Keke Palmer explains her comments about asexuality
During an appearance on Raven-Symoné and Miranda Pearman-Maday’s Tea Time podcast, Keke clarified her earlier remarks. The I Love Boosters star said her original comment was meant jokingly.
“When I said that I was totally joking. No shade to asexuals out there,” Keke explained. “What I was ultimately saying was that I don’t feel as sexual as the world is saying is normal.”
She added, “Maybe that is asexual, I don’t know, it’s like, I’m not that sexual.”
Keke said sexually charged content online sometimes made her question herself. “What’s wrong with me? Has that never been triggered?” she recalled thinking.
For the former child star, attraction appeared to begin in the mind. “I could talk to somebody when I feel that we have a vibe,” she said. That connection could make her sensual side wonder whether something more might develop.
Still, Keke described sex as potentially “performative” and said she could feel awkward navigating it. She later summed up her attraction simply: “It’s all mental.”
That mental connection also seemed essential to keeping romance alive. “Once the relationship is mentally not stimulating and things become crashing down, I don’t feel sexual,” she explained. “I see you as an inanimate object. Like, I’m not connected.”
Keke said public vulnerability came easily after growing up in front of cameras. Private intimacy, however, could present different challenges. She admitted, “I get just hopeless in terms of like how to make genuine connections,” whether romantic or platonic.
The Nope actress, who shared son Leo with ex Darius Jackson, had not publicly dated in three years. However, she recently sparked Keke Palmer dating rumors with TV host Sean Evans after several flirty exchanges and a June dinner date. In July, Keke told Today that their chemistry was genuine. Still, she suggested fans were writing the romance before she could actually live it.
