Keke Palmer became a breadwinner by 15: My parents made $40,000 a year—I made that per show on Nickelodeon
Keke Palmer knew early on that she was the main breadwinner in her family.
The "Nope" star broke into showbusiness as a tween. When she landed her own show, Nickelodeon's "True Jackson, VP" in 2008, Palmer realized she was out-earning her mom and dad.
"My parents, at their best, made $40,000 a year," Palmer said during an appearance on Shannon Sharpe's "Club Shay Shay" this week. "A year. I was making that a show."
Despite the fact that her family's finances rested on her shoulders, the 31-year-old said she wasn't resentful. Even when her parents gave her sister a monthly allowance from the money she was making, Palmer explained that she was happy to share.
"Someone might say, 'That's your money.' But we're a family. And everybody's sacrificing so I can be where I'm at," she said. "My dad gave up his pension for me to have an opportunity for my dreams. My mom gave up everything so she could travel with me."
"How I feel about it is, What's mine is theirs and what's theirs is mine," she continued. "I would do it again. I would sacrifice 20 more years of my life working in this industry so that I can provide and we can have the business we have today."
Palmer said that she wore the responsibility of providing for her family "like armor." She added that she trusted her parents to have her best interests at heart because they got her a business manager when she was just 12 years old.
Money Report
"They wanted me to know they weren't the ones controlling my money," she said. "My mom said, 'I don't want money to come between me and my child.'"
For Palmer, being able to provide opportunities for her family with her income were worth any sacrifices she had to make along the way.
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"We get to do things that we weren't able to do," she says. "And I wasn't the only person that sacrificed, but yes, a lot of it was on me."
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