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Keke Palmer Says She's Not Stuck to One Label When It Comes to Her Sexuality
The Scream Queens star reaffirmed statements she made in October.
Back in October, Scream Queens diva Keke Palmer released her video for “I Don’t Belong to You,” and it features a bisexual storyline that has Keke’s on-screen persona leaving a relationship she finds stifling. Eventually she ends up with a woman, played by a Calvin-Klein underwear-clad Cassie.
At the time, Keke gave a lengthy interview to Necole Bitchie about how the art in the video may have been imitating life.
“I don’t belong to anyone else but myself. I have to make my own decisions. Happiness is defined by me. My sexuality is defined by me,” Keke said. “And that can change and this can change and I can make it what I want to make it because I’m the one who makes that choice”
The former Nickelodeon star and Broadway darling, who will costar in Grease Live in January, went on to explain that the song was about coming to terms with change, partially in response to having come out of a long relationship.
While Keke’s discussion about sexuality and labels made barely a blip at the time, she recently elaborated in a statement to People.
"The video was to represent the young woman today – it's not the traditional woman anymore – and not the specifics of 'Am I gay? Am I straight? Am I bi?'" Keke says in People. "I'm making the rules for myself, and I don't have to be stuck down to one label."
In October Keke explained to Necole Bitchie that the song was in some ways an extension of her.
“…that’s what “I Don’t Belong to You,” is saying. This song feels right. It feels right and it’s telling who I am. And it captures my identity.”
Watch the video below.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
