Keke Palmer, welcome to The
Daily Social Distancing Show.
(chuckles) Hey, how are you?
It's good to see you, man.
Hey, I'm living, you know?
Living as-as best as I can
during these times.
And, uh, before we get into
the-the heftier side
of, you know,
what's happening in life,
I wanted to start off
with congratulating you.
It's not often that you have
moments of joy
during coronavirus.
Everything is going through
their ups and their downs,
but I wanted to say
congratulations.
You're gonna be hosting
the MTV VMAs.
Yes, I am.
I'm very excited about it.
Um, and yes to literally
everything that you said.
Um, I'm excited hopefully
to give people an opportunity
to get some entertainment,
uh, and good spirits
during all of this kind of
craziness, as you mentioned.
I have a serious question
for you about your...
the trajectory of your career.
What do you think
is more impactful in your life,
doing, you know, major things
like being in movies
and in TV shows and hosting
your own, um, you know,
hosting award shows, et cetera,
or being turned into a meme?
Because you are one of the most
famous memes on the Internet.
-(laughing) -I mean,
everyone sends it to me.
Everyone just uses it
for everything. They're like...
Where you're just like,
"I don't know this man.
"I don't know anything
about this man.
I don't know who this man is."
Like, that-that must be your
greatest achievement, right?
-I'm not crazy.
-No, you're not crazy.
And it shows how-how much
we're here, Trevor,
because, literally, I think
the coolest thing in life
is becoming a meme.
Point-blank, period.
Because you're part
of pop culture.
Like, you're-you're part
of how people, like, say...
It's like being Shakespeare but
of 2020, you know what I mean?
People use you to finish
their sentences in a message.
Has anyone sent that to you
to finish, like...
Like, has anyone sent you as
a meme to you to argue with you?
That's what I want to know.
Yeah, people have sent me
the memes.
They've done "the gag is."
They've done
"sorry to this man."
I've seen them all,
and it's so crazy.
I don't use my own memes
'cause I think that's a little,
like... (groans)
But it's funny
when other people use them.
It's crazy.
So, um, let's talk a little bit
about the, uh, about the awards.
It's gonna be
socially distanced,
which means
it's gonna be different.
Can you give us any sneak peeks
about what's gonna be happening,
who's gonna be performing?
'Cause it's gonna be an MTV VMAs
like we've never seen before.
Yes. Well, we got
a lot of great performers.
We got BTS performing.
First K-pop group to ever be
performing at the VMAs.
-I'm very excited about that.
K-pop is amazing. -Wow.
Um, as well as, um, CNCO.
We got Doja Cat.
Very excited to see her perform.
We got DaBaby
and a bunch of other great, uh,
people performing.
We have some surprises in there.
And, um, to your point, yeah,
it's definitely gonna be
different this time,
but we're still finding ways
to make sure that the audience
is still a part of the show
in the same way
-that we, you know, expect
with the VMAs. -Oh, right.
So, you know,
I'm really excited.
We have this one, um,
this one drive-in setup.
That's all I'll say.
That is really, really cool.
But we still want to make sure
we keep everything safe.
BTS is an interesting segue
for us to use
to get into the next part
of the conversation,
because K-pop fans
have been lauded
as some of the most woke fans
during these times.
You know, they've been pushing
Black Lives Matter.
They've been
changing hashtags online
to get younger people
involved in the struggle
of what people
are fighting for right now,
which is equality and justice.
And you seem like
the perfect person
in that moment to be with BTS
and in the K-pop world
and in the world of equality
and justice,
because one of the videos
that was...
that went around on the Internet
was a video of you at a protest.
And it wasn't you
making the video of yourself.
It was just you at a protest
where you were...
you were saying
some really heartfelt things
to the officers who-who were
tasked with keeping,
uh, you know, peace
and law and order, et cetera.
I would love to know, like,
what was going through your mind
when you were speaking to them.
Like, did you... did you hope
to get through to them?
Was it you venting, like, what
you were feeling in that moment?
I wanted some answers.
I think at that moment,
I had been having
so much festering at that moment
that I felt
when I saw them there,
um, you know, their priority
was to keep the building safe,
and I just kind of thought
to myself, you know,
"Well, how great would it be
if-if we all were together?"
You know, because the reality is
is the buildings,
they can be rebuilt.
But it's the people
and the lives
that we're losing to...
you know, senselessly,
that can't be.
So I just wanted
in that moment...
Like, at the end of the day,
we're...
we're all fighting
on the same team.
Even when I think
about all the things
that-that do happen
within the military
and in the injustices that we're
fighting against there, as well.
I just felt like,
"Let's come together,
you know, in this moment."
I wasn't thinking
about anything other than
really just reaching him as a...
as a human being,
because I was so overwhelmed,
uh, with the emotion
from what was going on
and what is going on.
You've always been somebody
who's been outspoken.
It doesn't matter
what the issue is, you know,
whether it's how
the industry should change,
whether it's how
society needs to improve,
whether it's about your
experience as a Black woman.
I-I think I've always admired
how honest you are
in sharing your experiences
and-and how much humanity
you put out.
I never feel like
it's a talking point.
I never feel like Keke's reading
from a script
in-in delivering her feelings
and emotions.
Why has it been so important
for you to do that?
I really think that
just happens to be how I r...
how I was raised
and has really nothing to do
with the entertainment aspect.
I think that allows me to be
a little bit more "popular"
-and for the things I do and say
to be more sane. -Mm-hmm.
But it is just the kind
of household I grew up in.
My dad is very that way.
My dad always talked
about Ruby Dee, Muhammad Ali.
Um, he talked about Ossie Davis.
He talked
about Martin Luther King. He...
You know, we would go on tours
together, my dad and I,
with Bernice, um,
when I was a kid.
So, I think just kind of trying
to be aware
and also carrying
the understanding
of what it means
to be a Black American
and just our, uh, history
in this country in particular,
um, there's just been a little
bit of that responsibility
that I felt at home that I think
just happened to travel
its way through my...
in my work.
And I happen to be
a passionate person, as well,
and it's how I express that.
I think one of my favorite
things about you, though,
is you express the complexity
of being Black in many...
in a way that few people
truly understand.
Being Black
comes with a lot of pain,
but being Black has also created
from that pain a lot of joy.
You know, being Black
is able to tell jokes,
being able to sing,
being able to dance
whilst also fighting
against systems of oppression.
That's what being Black is,
and I feel like
Keke Palmer represents that.
I mean, like,
while you're out there fighting,
while you're out there
protesting,
you're also still creating.
You know,
you're making TV shows,
and I believe you got an EP
that's coming out, as well,
which seems like a lot of fun.
-(laughs):
Like, it's-it's not... -Yes.
It's not...
Some of the songs are...
Like, one of them
is about getting thicker
-during coronavirus, yes?
-(laughs) Yes!
So, you know, Virgo Tendencies
is literally the pr...
Like,
I had some of the songs before,
and then many of them
were created during quarantine.
-Yes.
-And it really was my escape.
Um, to your point, like,
when you talk about the paradox
of being Black
and what that experience can be,
I found so much solace
in my creativity,
and I really love
to encourage others that, look,
look, see what's going on
and see what's going around,
but don't let it break you
and don't let it push you down.
Use it, uh, the same way
those before us did
and-and let your resilience
sing through
and showcase your heart
to the world.
And that's what I try to do,
uh, you know, within my work.
So it-it's crazy that you
say that like that. (chuckles)
Tell me...
tell me about the song, though.
I want to know
how-how you decided...
'Cause I-I've heard many songs
about people
enjoying their bodies.
I-I've heard many songs
about people being thick
or people being like,
"You know, I'm thick like this.
I'm thick like..."
I-I can safely say this is
the first song I've heard
about someone
experiencing the thickness
derived from coronavirus
specifically
and being indoors
and stuck and just eating
and living the good life
on the couch, essentially.
Because that's the attitude that
I was experiencing at that time.
It's like, you know what,
I wanted to embrace it,
and I wanted to put
my self in this space
that allowed me to kind of still
access a feeling of freedom
even though we were being
so caged in.
And so I didn't want
to let myself get
to the negative bag of the fact
that, oh, my gosh,
I'm gaining more weight, I'm
spending more time on the couch.
But you know what,
I'm getting thick.
And you know what,
I'm living it, I'm loving it,
I'm vibing it,
I'm not gonna let this, uh,
scenario steal my joy--
I'm-I'm still gonna love myself
and vibe out and that's
literally the energy
of the whole project because
I felt that's what I needed
during, uh, especially
the beginning half of COVID,
and, um, I just wanted
to give that to my fans
and just, like,
you know, try to turn up
and try to just
escape for a minute.
And there's
some laughs on it, too.
There's some music and-and
I got some skits and stuff.
Yeah, it's got music,
it's got skits.
And you say it's for your fans,
but I think everyone
who listens to it
will become a fan
because we've all become
thicker during this period.
And so I feel like that
should become the new anthem
for the summer is-is
the coronavirus thickness
that Keke-Keke Palmer
has given us.
Keke, thank you so much
for joining us on the show.
And good luck
at the MTV VMA Awards.
We're all gonna be watching.
Thank you, Trevor.
You are the best.
Bye.
