Keke Palmer Plans to Seek Legal Action Against Trey Songz Over Music Video Consent

Earlier this week, Palmer Instagrammed a still shot from the video that shows her using her phone. In the post, she explained that she repeatedly protested being filmed and had to hide in a closet because of Trey’s alleged coercive tactics, including “sexual intimidation.” The music video released this week (the portion she appears in was taken at a party in Miami, she says) has since been removed online. Trey responded to the accusation on Twitter: “Babygirl buggin. Point blank period. Got my number, coulda called, saw the cameras and the lights, heard action.”

In a subsequent interview with Larry King on Wednesday, Palmer says she told multiple people involved in the making of the music video—the producer, the assistant and Trey—that she didn’t want to be filmed. “When I started to see cameras, I was like, ok they filming a video. Ain’t got nothing to do with me, you know. Until they started asking me to be in it,” she says, adding that she declined. “Because I wasn’t in the right mind. I had been drinking and eating and it wasn’t a professional environment. It was not a place where I was like I’m in the right mind to decide if this works with my brand, if I like the artist. I don’t know nothing about the artist that’s also in the song.”

Palmer says she hasn’t heard from Trey since the video’s release. When asked to clarify what she meant by “sexual intimidation,” she tells King, “I feel as a female, often, I’m put in situations where sometimes males will use their masculinity, their sexuality, to taunt you. I hate to have to bring and say that and make it known, but, I mean, look, I ain’t the first person who’s gone through this.” Palmer says she’s planning to pursue legal action against Trey, partly to send a bigger message.

“I mean, the video is down now. It’s out and it’s over, but more so, my point isn’t to say…it’s not just specifically about this person, this guy and what he did,” she says. “It’s the overall idea that, you can’t just do stuff to people and it’s alright, no matter who you are.”