Keke Palmer Just Gave Working Moms Permission to Do the Unthinkable

Keke Palmer has built a career on saying exactly what she means, and in her latest conversation at the 2025 Essence Festival of Culture, she didn’t sugarcoat the reality of parenting right now. Her advice to working moms? “Don’t feel guilt.”

“Your child is your child because you were meant to be their parent. And as a working parent, it could be really, really hard because you’re wondering like, ‘Damn, is this good for me and my child?’ But the reality is, if you got to work, you got to work.