Keke Palmer ‘Grateful’ She and ex can ‘show up for our son’ after difficulties

Keke Palmer is happy to be in a better place with her ex.

The actress, 31, spoke to Gayle King further CBS Morning on Tuesday, Nov. 19, and opened up about her parenting relationship with ex-boyfriend Darius Jackson, with whom she shares son Leodis “Leo.”

Asked how she’s been able to get to a better place with Jackson, Palmer says she didn’t expect a positive outcome.

“I have to be honest, I never would have thought that I would be where I am now and so I am very grateful that this has now been the result and we have been able to coexist in this way and to show up for our son, and just be in a different place, it’s a true blessing,” Palmer shares.

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King then proceeds to talk to Palmer about how she and Jackson are parents, asking her how she was able to get to this place with her ex.

“Boundaries. Boundaries—I don’t think I had enough of them,” she explains. “I think boundaries, and I talk about that a lot in the book. People can’t respect boundaries you don’t have, and sometimes it’s hard to set boundaries with people you love.”

“And that’s something I’ve always struggled with,” Palmer continues. “I talk about it so much in the book, with my Christian background and the concept of forgiveness and how that means standing up for me and standing up for others.”

“And when I had my son, it became clear that I needed to create boundaries and I needed to have hard lines with the people in my life.”

In October, Palmer opened up to PEOPLE about some of the difficulties in her relationship with Jackson, which came to a head when Jackson publicly spoke about an outfit Palmer wore to an Usher concert.

“It’s the clothes . . . you’re a mom,” Jackson wrote in response to a video showing Palmer wearing a sheer dress as she danced with Usher at his concert. Fans immediately came to her defense online — though some commenters touched in the pot.

For her part, “I was speechless,” she said when she saw the uproar the next day.

In Palmer’s opinion, “I was just at a concert, doing what I do as an entertainer and creating a funny moment. How it became a story that me and Usher are in love, I don’t know,” she said.

As for what contributed to the end of her “unhealthy” relationship with Jackson, she blames the stress of parenting and “I imagine fame,” said Palmer, who navigated their painful breakup — which included allegations of domestic violence and a custody battle. – publicly.

“It’s just been a monkey on my back my whole life. I’m used to it. But I’ve always known, and not just with my romantic relationships, but with my family, with my friends. Fame has always become a burden.”