Keke Palmer left speechless by bizarre marriage proposal

Keke Palmer got more than she bargained for at the SXSW Festival last month when a stranger suddenly got down on one knee and proposed, and she knew immediately something was off.

The 32-year-old actress was speaking on a Baby, This Is Keke Palmer Live panel when the man from the audience whipped out a sparkling ring. 

Speaking on the Decisions, Decisions podcast, she recalled spotting the expensive-looking jewellery and realising this wasn’t just a gag.

“I’m serious, the ring looked expensive. That’s when I knew something was up,” she explained. 

“I could see in his eyes we’d had romance. We had a lifetime in this man’s eyes.”

Despite the man’s sincerity, Keke politely but firmly declined.

“Okay, sir, no, I cannot marry you, I cannot marry you, sir,” she said. 

The Nope actress added that the man looked “pretty together,” and she tried to be careful in rejecting him, only later feeling nervous that the situation could have turned dangerous.

“I started feeling sad because I was thinking to myself, ‘man, this guy is in a really bad way,’” she admitted, emphasising that celebrities are “only human” and hoping the incident sparks more understanding about the pressures of public life.

The Austin Police Department later confirmed they were called to the JW Marriott hotel over the disturbance. 

Officers alleged the man, identified as Kendall Demouchet, refused to leave and intended to continue the proposal. 

He was arrested for criminal trespass and is set to appear in court on April 27.

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