Is Keke in love with a streamer?

Keke Palmer has been raising some eyebrows lately. First, she invited Offset, who many turned their backs on after his poor treatment of Cardi B, onto her podcast, Baby, This is Keke Palmer. I wrote about that here. Then, she launched a show on KeyTV, her digital network, called Southern Fried Grits and it did not land well with fans. You can read more about that here. And in December, clips surfaced of her collaborating with rapper Blueface. He's a D-list celebrity known mostly for his toxic treatment of women and for serving jail time recently. Needless to say, people have questions.    

But just when we thought she couldn’t descend any further into the unknown, she recently announced on Instagram that she ‘might be in love’ with streamer PlaqueBoyMax, who at 22 is a full decade her junior, prompting reactions from people online, which ramped up after she appeared in a lusty music video for a song he has with rapper Bryson Tiller. Some asked about how much she got paid, some said he ‘won’, others expressed support, others, outright annoyance. But what is it about the idea of Keke dating a younger streamer that is so polarizing?

For me, part of it stems from the fact that I feel very protective of Keke, particularly after the 2023 public spectacle she endured with her son’s father on social media, which I wrote about here. I predicted that it would only get bigger and better for her – and for a while, that’s what happened. But with some of the moves she’s made lately, she seems to be changing course.

The other part of this awareness of the vast difference in maturity and life experience for both men and women in their 20s and 30s. Had another decade gone by, no one would think twice about this. But between her being a mom and PlaqueBoyMax just recently entering into his 20s, if she’s actually “in love”, how sustainable would a relationship even be?

But perhaps what plays the most into the reaction over this situationship is the difference in the nature of their work. Keke has been a lifelong entertainer and is now a successful entrepreneur. And I just don’t think most people view streaming as a viable long-term career path, and recent remarks by Kai Cenat about the profession seem to support that notion. I wrote about that here.

At the same time, streamers make money. The entire reason Kai could even pivot into fashion is because of the wealth he was able to accumulate from simply being on camera. The lack of overhead costs that exist when you make most of your money streaming from the comfort of your home is equal parts baffling and impressive.

And even if PlaqueBoyMax and Keke aren’t on the same page financially, this doesn’t appear to be something she’s too concerned with based on remarks she’s made in the past about the pressure put on famous women to date up, while it’s generally accepted for famous men to date down (or just, not famous). All of this suggests that she might be totally okay with not only the differences in maturity and lifestyle, but when it comes to money as well. So why aren’t we?

With Keke being in the limelight for most of her life, the parasocial relationship we’ve developed with her goes even deeper than it does for most celebrities. And the fact that she frequently positions herself as our ‘home girl’ plays into all of this. We have adopted a non-existent responsibility to treat and advise her the way we would our friends in real life. But we have to remember that she doesn’t know us, nor does she owe us.

As more and more clips of the two of them emerge, the harder it is for me to tell what’s real, what’s not, and whether Keke’s picker is just way off. Part of the reason it’s hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t is because a few weeks ago, PlaqueBoyMax took WNBA player Liz Cambage to the basketball court for a one on one. And despite the massive height (and skill) difference between the two, he appears to have won the challenge, which resulted in her owing him a date.

She got dressed up, he brought her flowers and took her to Erewhon for smoothies. Then, he had a meal made for them by a private chef. All of this was streamed, of course. She even remarked, “Oh, this is a real date.”

And we’re kind of seeing the same thing happen with Keke. They met during a stream and spent a few hours hanging out together. Again, he presented her with flowers and took her out on a date. Then they went back to his place and cooked a meal together.

While I’m irked by the idea of PlaqueBoyMax using his relationship with women like Liz and Keke to boost his musical career, Keke and Liz are grownups who make their own choices. There could be inherent benefits to this collaboration or relationship for her, too, like the exposure to a younger audience who may not have been around for her come-up.

Scattered throughout the online reactions to Keke and her new beau are people, mostly women, suggesting that she’s having fun. And if that’s the case, then we are all just being a bit too uptight and a bit too entitled and parasocial about this whole thing. Because fun is important. And it’s her life.

So though it may look from the outside like there is no method to the madness we’ve seen with Keke lately, especially as it pertains to this new romance, maybe there doesn’t have to be. Or maybe there is - and we just can’t see it yet. Either way, I hope 2026 is not the year of Keke falling off and that all the things I said about her back in 2023 still find a way to come to fruition.