Keke Palmer Recalls the Differences Between Working at Nickelodeon and Disney as a Child Star (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Keke Palmer on ‘True Jackson VP’ in 2008.Photo: Everett

TRUE JACKSON V.P., Keke Palmer, ‘Firing Lulu’, (Season 1, aired Nov. 15, 2008), 2008-. photo: Peter ‘Hopper’ Stone / © Nickelodeon / Courtesy: Everett Collection

Keke Palmeris looking back at the roles that made her a household name.

“The thing that put Keke Palmer on the map like boooom, wasTrue Jackson, VP. My life was changed after that, honey,” she said of the Nickelodeon show.

Claudia noted that Palmer also starred in Disney’sJump In, and how rare it was for young stars of the time to not work exclusively with either of the two networks.

“Disney is really amazing when it comes to, not only the storytelling you see on screen, but the storytelling within the company. They are storytelling through marketing, through their employees. They’ve got the pins in the office,” Palmer said.

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“They are literally like a whole universe, and I think that feels really good when you’re a kid because the magic doesn’t end. There’s an element that being a part of it is really, really fun.”

Palmer later noted that “Disney has a way of making you feel like, ‘I need to be here. It’s something you want to be a part of.’ "

When it came to Nickelodeon, “their paying was really awesome,” Palmer revealed, adding that the environment was “kind of like ‘Come in and get this check.’ It wasn’t about making it necessarily exciting.”

Keke Palmer on ‘The Toast’.The Toast

Keke Palmer on The Toast

The Toast

“One day, we were doing this big promotional thing about all the new shows that were coming to Nickelodeon. We had to get slimed. Obviously when you’re filming things, you don’t just film it once. You film it multiple times,” she said.

Explaining she was in her “weave era,” Palmer continued, “When I tell you that they slimed me, then they had to wash all of it out. I was under the dryer for hours, just to get slimed again? Oh honey, I hated that slime after that. It was too much.”

Hear more from Palmer on the Nov. 19 episode ofThe Toast,streaming starting at 1 p.m. ET.

source: people.com