{"id":2244,"date":"2026-03-04T19:19:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T19:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/03\/keke-palmer-and-demi-lovato-get-candid-about-dating-older-men-as-teenagers\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T19:19:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T19:19:54","slug":"keke-palmer-and-demi-lovato-get-candid-about-dating-older-men-as-teenagers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/03\/keke-palmer-and-demi-lovato-get-candid-about-dating-older-men-as-teenagers\/","title":{"rendered":"Keke Palmer and Demi Lovato Get Candid About Dating Older Men as Teenagers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Demi Lovato and Keke Palmer recently revisited parts of their early years that, in retrospect, feel difficult to reconcile. During Palmer\u2019s podcast, Baby, This is Keke Palmer<\/em>, the two performers reflected on dating significantly older men while they were still teenagers navigating early fame. Both began their careers young, and their conversation suggested that the environment of child stardom often blurred boundaries that seem clearer with time.<\/p>\n

Roughly 14 minutes into the episode, Palmer paused to consider something that once felt routine. \u201cI found myself dating \u2014 I\u2019m 15, why is my boyfriend 20?\u201d she said. Lovato responded with a similar recollection. \u201cWhy was my boyfriend 30? You know what I\u2019m saying?\u201d The moment drew a mix of surprise and recognition as the two compared experiences that, at the time, did not fully register as unusual.<\/p>\n

Palmer acknowledged how different those situations appear now. \u201cGirl! Damn! I\u2019m not smiling at that, but that is real. We was trying to find outlets, though. A way to process this,\u201d she said. Lovato described how fame created a kind of isolation that made those relationships seem easier to rationalize. \u201cNobody our age could understand,\u201d she said. Looking back years later, she added, \u201cBut then you look back in hindsight\u2014when I turned 30 I was like, \u2018That\u2019s not okay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For Palmer, the realization unfolded gradually as she grew older. \u201cThe moment when you realize and you get the age that a lot of people that were around you and doing stuff, it\u2019s almost a mental break that can happen,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause you realize: \u2018You were taking advantage of [me]. Oh, I was being exploited!\u2019 That was very difficult for me when I realized [it].\u201d<\/p>\n

Lovato Says Early Fame Shaped Her View of Relationships<\/h2>\n

She explained that, at the time, the relationships felt consistent with the adult responsibilities she already carried. \u201cAt 15, I\u2019m thinking, \u2018My boyfriend\u2019s older because I\u2019m doing an older job. And I\u2019m doing a bunch of things, and this is the way that it is. And it seemed normal in my mind. Especially if you\u2019re an older soul, too. Especially if you\u2019re mature for your age.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Lovato did not identify the relationship she referenced during the podcast. However, her 2022 song \u201c29\u201d has often been interpreted as reflecting on her past relationship with actor Wilmer Valderrama. In a 2015 interview<\/a>, Lovato described how they first met during a public service campaign. \u201cWe shot a PSA together for the 2010 Census forms for Voto Latino,\u201d she said. \u201cWe shot them at his house, so we actually met there. Of course, I was like, \u2018Oh my god. You\u2019re so attractive.\u2019 And he was like, \u2018You are not 18. Get away from me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Lovato said the two remained friends before eventually beginning a relationship years later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Demi Lovato and Keke Palmer recently revisited parts of their early years that, in retrospect, feel difficult to reconcile. During…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14044,"featured_media":2249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[10,9],"class_list":["post-2244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-rss","tag-culture","tag-hip-hop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}