She transcended the constraints of the child star and the comic relief with ease. For her next chapter,
@keke is setting the bar even higher.
The CULT100 cover star made her name by perfecting the underdog archetype—from early, titular roles in ‘Akeelah and the Bee’ and the Nickelodeon series ‘True Jackson, VP’ to Emerald Haywood, the horse-wrangling sister to Daniel Kaluuya in Jordan Peele’s ‘Nope’—and a knack for virality. (She’s the woman who deadpanned to Amelia Dimoldenberg on Chicken Shop Date in 2022 that she’d like to be reincarnated as a rock.)
Recently, Palmer has found herself occupying more rarefied cinematic air—a character arc that’s been cemented with her role in Boots Riley’s anarchic satire, ‘I Love Boosters,’ in theaters this May. She plays the defiant kingpin of a Robin Hood-esque cohort that shoplifts luxury goods to resell at a discount as a form of “fashion-forward philanthropy.” Palmer’s comic snap and devil-may-care joie de vivre carry the laughs, but there’s a vulnerability to her performance that grounds the film’s more deranged impulses, allowing its big ideas to land harder. And then there are the side hustles—a podcast, a media and content company, two books, her musical career—that have turned the star into a dynasty that reaches far beyond Hollywood.
Link in bio to read Palmer’s full cover story by Elissa Suh (
@oddbarnacles ), and order your copy of the 2026 CULT100 issue before the full list drops on April 23.
1/ Keke wears a
@givenchy dress.
3/ Full look by
@gucci .
Editor-in-Chief:
@sarahgharrelson
Words:
@oddbarnacles
Photography:
@danieljacklyons
Styling:
@benperreira
Hair:
@jamikawilson
Makeup Artist:
@basedkenken
Nails:
@nailsdid.byginger
Production:
@palm.productions.co
Casting:
@specialprojectsmedia
Makeup:
@valentino.beauty
// The 100 individuals on CULTURED’s third annual CULT100 list span disciplines and generations. Some are household names, others operate behind the scenes. All of them are choosing risk over reward, curiosity over cynicism, and are shaping culture in real time. Each offers something that the algorithm never will. //
