kwn is clearing the air after facing backlash over comments she made about Keke Palmer.
The singer recently found herself at the centre of online debate after explaining during a Complex News interview that naming Palmer as her celebrity crush in a previous Angie Martinez interview was “kind of a joke.”
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So, your team told you to say you had a crush on a dark skinned black woman (Keke Palmer), but in all actuality your crush is someone with a completely different phenotype?
Yikes. pic.twitter.com/xaEu0GAr4n
— Mílagro (@MilagroGramz) September 18, 2026
While speaking with Complex News, she also revealed that her team had suggested Palmer as a “safe answer,” explaining:
“My team told me to say her name before I went on that show. We was trying to think of someone.”
She then named ‘Euphoria’ star Alexa Demie as her actual crush.
The remarks sparked criticism online, particularly surrounding the way Palmer, a Black woman, was described in the context of the joke.
Now, kwn has issued an apology, stressing that she never intended to offend Palmer or make Black women the punchline.
Taking to social media, she said:
“I’ve apologized to Keke privately. The word joke was the wrong choice of words, and I hold my hands up and take full accountability for that.”
The ‘Worst Behaviour’ singer also revealed that Palmer’s name was used to conceal the identity of a celebrity she was romantically connected to at the time, who was speculated to be Kehlani.
She explained:
“The joke of it all was the person’s name I wanted to say was somebody I wanted to keep private in my life.”
She also clarified that the ‘Baby, This is Keke Palmer’ host was “never the butt of the joke,” adding that she considers her “a beautiful woman.”
kwn addresses the backlash she received from her celebrity crush comments pic.twitter.com/AUZDdWGsup
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) September 20, 2026
At present, Palmer has not publicly addressed the comments.
