© 2026 ABC News

\"A great example of colorism is to believe I can be compared to anyone,\" she wrote. \"I'm the youngest talk show host ever. The first Black woman to star in her own show on Nickelodeon, & the youngest & first Black Cinderella on broadway. I'm an incomparable talent. Baby, THIS, is Keke Palmer.\"

\"I’ve been a leading lady since I was 11 years old,\" she continued. \"I have 100+ credits, and currently starring in an original screenplay that's the number one film at the box office #NOPE. I've had a blessed career thus far, I couldn't ask for more but God continues to surprise me.\"

Colorism is the preference for light skin over dark skin, which some say is an unspoken reality many communities of color have faced for generations.

\"As you move along the color spectrum, the darker you are, the less important, beautiful, viable, or all those things that society has imposed upon based on that notion of supremacy,\" author Dr. Joy DeGruy, who holds a doctorate in social work research, told \"Good Morning America\" in a 2020 interview.

\"The anti-Blackness started with the idea of the Blacker you are, the less human you are, so Black people then become not fully human beings, so everyone's distancing themselves from that,\" DeGruy added.

In a report that same year from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, researchers found that despite the progress that has been made in casting Black women and girls in leading roles, there's still a long way to go.

\"Black girls and women with dark skin rarely appear as leading ladies in the top-grossing films,\" the study found. \"Only one-in-five leading Black female characters from the past decade has dark skin. This indicates that colorism is persistent in Hollywood. Also, a large majority of Black women who appear as film leads have European hairstyles -- long and straight -- as opposed to natural Black hairstyles. Taken together, these findings indicate a strong bias toward Black women who conform with white standards of beauty.\"

While Zendaya did not respond to the tweetcomparing her to Palmer, the actress has addressed colorism in the past.

\"As a Black woman, as a light-skinned Black woman, it's important that I'm using my privilege, my platform to show you how much beauty there is in the African-American community,\" she said during a conversation at the 2018 Beautycon Festival in New York City. \"I am Hollywood's, I guess you can say, acceptable version of a Black girl and that has to change.\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/keke-palmer-speaks-twitter-user-suggests-colorism-impacted/story?id=87375134","legacySlug":"/culture/story/keke-palmer-speaks-twitter-user-suggests-colorism-impacted-87375134","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"20:40","publishDate":"07-25-2022","updatedTime":"20:40","updatedDate":"07-25-2022","socialImage":{"alt":"Keke Palmer attends the \"Lightyear\" UK Premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square on June 13, 2022 in London.","credit":"Joe Maher/Getty Images, FILE","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/palmer-gty-ml-220725_1658774790888_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"7/25/2022 20:40:23 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":87375134,"headline":"Keke Palmer addresses comments about colorism ","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA KEKE PALMER RESPONDS TO COLORISM CLAIMS","description":"The \"Nope\" star, who has more than 100 credits, said she is \"incomparable.\"","duration":"6:17","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/07/200722_gma_deborah_0820_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["85308661","87020849","87241696"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"June 10, 2022","headline":"Final trailer for Jordan Peele's 'Nope' has arrived: Watch now","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/final-trailer-jordan-peeles-nope-arrived-watch-now-85308661","id":85308661,"image":{"alt":"Final trailer for Jordan Peele's 'Nope' has arrived: Watch now","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/trailer-nope3-01-ht-iwb-220610_1654873712753_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Universal Pictures/YouTube","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"July 22, 2022","headline":"Review: 'Nope' is a spellbinder that keeps pushing boundaries","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/review-nope-spellbinder-pushing-boundaries-87020849","id":87020849,"image":{"alt":"Review: 'Nope' is a spellbinder that keeps pushing boundaries","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/nope-still-ht-jt-220719_1658258533248_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Universal Pictures","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"July 22, 2022","headline":"Jordan Peele responds to fan who calls him 'best horror director of all time'","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/jordan-peele-responds-fan-calls-best-horror-director-87241696","id":87241696,"image":{"alt":"Jordan Peele responds to fan who calls him 'best horror director of all time'","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/jordan-peele-gty-ps-220722_1658497713415_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Keke Palmer addresses comments about colorism ","description":"The \"Nope\" star, who has more than 100 credits, said she is \"incomparable.\"","duration":"6:17","uploadDate":"07-25-2022","publication":"07-25-2022","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/07/200722_gma_deborah_0820_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/07/200722_gma_deborah_0820_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/keke-palmer-speaks-twitter-user-suggests-colorism-impacted-87375134"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133810954","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133779647","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810835","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133749799","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133777519","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133748258","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:culture:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"culture","title":"Keke Palmer addresses comments about colorism ","pubTime":"16:40","pubDate":"07-25-2022","modTime":"16:40","modDate":"07-25-2022","taxonomyTags":"none","id":87375134,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Keke Palmer addresses comments about colorism ","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA KEKE PALMER RESPONDS TO COLORISM CLAIMS","videoId":87375134,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/keke-palmer-speaks-twitter-user-suggests-colorism-impacted-87375134"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/87375134","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/87375134","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};