Keke Palmer calls pregnancy 'out-of-body experience' after welcoming son Leo

Keke Palmer opened up about what motherhood stole from her after welcoming her son, Leodis “Leo” Andrellton Jackson.

For those unaware, the 32-year-old American actress and singer gave birth to Leo on February 25, 2023. She shares her only child with her former boyfriend, Darius Jackson.

At the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival Storyteller event in New York City on June 8, Palmer held a discussion with Whoopi Goldberg, reflecting on how she tackles fame in the age of social media.

They also talked about her relationship with her body and her journey to become a healthier version of herself after embracing motherhood.

She told Goldberg, “After I had my son, I started to think about everything differently, and obviously I need to get back in touch with my body because [pregnancy is] such an out-of-body experience.”

“But then, I started to realize being disembodied and kind of not being within myself has been something that I was unconsciously doing, and during the practice of Pilates, I started to understand being intentional about choosing to stay in my body,” Palmer quipped.

The Goof Fortune star admitted that Pilates plays a key role in helping her “stay in” her body, and “it kind of showed me myself in a way that then I felt like it made me better in my daily life."

Articulating her thoughts on motherhood, she said, “There's no messing around… your child makes you present.”

“I got to just make sure that I'm good today, and I got to make sure that I'm really showing up for me because somebody needs me. It's a really incredible gift,” Keke Palmer quipped.