Keke Palmer Shares Surprising Voicemail Will Smith Left Her When She Considered Emancipating Herself from Her Parents

Keke Palmer got some help from a surprising source when she was having difficulties with her parents.

The actress, 31, appeared on a Tuesday, Nov. 19 episode of The Toast podcast and opened up about a voicemail she received from Will Smith that helped her through a tough situation with her family. Palmer, who rose to fame after her role in Akeelah and the Bee, discussed how grappling with her newfound notoriety was difficult for her and her family.

She decided to discuss emancipation from her parents with her lawyer, who tried to steer her towards therapy instead.

“Couple of weeks go by and I’m on the set of True Jackson, VP, and I get a call from this like really, really obscure number,” Palmer remembers. “And I’m like what? Like this is weird, I’m not answering this.”

The star went back to work and later checked her phone, which now had an unread voicemail from that same number — who ended up being Will Smith.

“Hey, Keke. It’s Will. We’re over here doing Karate Kid with Jaden and I just want to let you know that I talked [her lawyer],” Palmer says, impersonating the Men in Black actor. “He let me know everything you’re going through, and I want you to know sometimes it’s hard being the first, but you’ll get through.”

“Just keep staying focused, love on your family, and y’all gonna be good,” Palmer remembers Smith saying.

At the end of the day, Palmer decided not to seek emancipation from her parents and attributes part of the reason to Smith’s phone call.

“It’s something that happens when you’re stepping out, and you could be a child entertainer, or you could be the first person in your family to go to college, or the first person in your family to get married,” Palmer says. “There’s so many firsts that can happen as the generations of your family continue to grow and evolve.”

“And this was a difficult thing for me that I felt meant that I had to throw my family away,” she continues.

“I’ve always had, I think a lot of people — whether they’re notable names or they’re my attorney — that I had a good community, that also my parents made sure I was around, that would encourage community and not like dissension and us breaking apart.”