Law Roach wanted to dress Keke Palmer’s baby bump. Palmer wanted to keep it hidden. The difference eventually cost him his job as her stylist, and Roach still thinks she was right to fire him.
The celebrity stylist revisited their working relationship during the October 20 episode of Aspire with Emma Grede. Palmer was expecting her first child at the time of their disagreement, but she wasn’t ready to share the news publicly.
Roach, whose clients have included Zendaya and Céline Dion, admitted that his reputation hadn’t helped him meet this particular assignment. “I couldn’t get the looks right,” he said. “I couldn’t get the energy right.”
Roach remembered her explaining the difference between being considered an exceptional stylist and being the person she needed, then telling him plainly where he stood.
Palmer Told Roach He Wasn’t the Right Stylist for Her
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“You may be the best stylist in the world, but you are not the best stylist for me,” Roach recalled Palmer telling him. His response was brief: “Well, all right, Keke Palmer.” The recollection made Grede laugh, and she praised Palmer for knowing herself well enough to make that decision.
When Grede asked what he had been getting wrong, Roach described trying to find clothes that would conceal Palmer’s changing figure while imagining an entirely different wardrobe. He was excited about the fashion possibilities of her pregnancy and had ideas for presenting her bump. Those weren’t the outfits she was asking him to produce.
Roach acknowledged that the announcement belonged to Palmer, including the decision about when to make it. He said he remains fond of her and tells the firing story with pride because she made the business decision she needed to make.
The subject came up during a broader discussion of how he chooses clients. Immediately before Grede asked about Palmer, Roach had described a fitting with Kim Kardashian in which she asked him to push her creatively. That request appealed to him because she wanted something he believed he could contribute. He said he would leave a job if he couldn’t add value.
Palmer and Roach Have Already Laughed About the Firing Together
The pregnancy disagreement was already public by October 2024, when Palmer joined Roach at a panel for his book, How to Build a Fashion Icon. According to People, he explained that they had worked together years earlier, parted professionally and reunited during her pregnancy. This had been another attempt at a collaboration.
Palmer was beside him as he recounted the dismissal and joked about his appreciation for a sharp remark. “Law lives for a drag,” she said. He responded affectionately and agreed with her assessment of their working relationship.
They returned to the subject on the July 15, 2025 episode of Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, titled Boundaries, Break Ups, and Comebacks with Law Roach. The conversation also covered his return to styling after announcing his retirement, his reality television persona and his ambitions with Zendaya.
Palmer’s SNL Reveal Changed Her Maternity Wardrobe
Palmer announced her pregnancy while hosting Saturday Night Live on December 3, 2022, opening her jacket during the monologue to reveal her bump. As ABC News reported, she addressed the speculation in her comments before confirming that it was true. She welcomed her son, Leodis Andrellton Jackson, with then-partner Darius Jackson in February 2023.
Stylists Wayman Bannerman and Micah McDonald later told Vogue that they initially chose clothes to disguise her bump, then changed direction after the announcement. They selected a Sportmax suit for her hosting debut and said Palmer improvised during the reveal.
Her subsequent maternity looks included a sequined Michael Kors dress at the 2023 New York Film Critics Circle Awards. Cutouts at the sides showed the bump she had previously kept covered.
