Keke Palmer’s SXSW panel took an unexpected turn on Friday when a stranger rushed the stage and dropped to one knee in front of her, ringbox in hand, in front of a live audience.
Palmer was in the middle of hosting a live taping of his podcast, Baby, it’s Keke Palmernext to her I love boosters co-stars Demi Moore, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu and Eiza González when the man appeared on stage, knelt down and grinned up at her with a ring box propped open.
Palmer’s jaw dropped. Her co-stars reacted with a mixture of shock and laughter.
She handled it with as much grace as the situation allowed.
“I can’t marry you. I don’t know you. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, sir,” she told him, which drew a laugh from the crowd.
Assuming it must be a set-up, she asked if it was all planned in advance, but staff and audience members near the front quickly made it clear that it was not.
Someone shouted that she needed security.
Her security came out from backstage and a SXSW employee rose from the audience, both moving to escort the man away.
He didn’t budge easily.
Still on his knees, he insisted that she would say yes. Several audience members shouted back that she largely did not. He was eventually led out of the event room, with Palmer visibly concerned for him and apologetic to his co-stars and the audience.
Taylour Paige, always quick on her feet, leaned into the moment.
“Apologies to this man,” she said with a laugh, a nod to the iconic meme featuring Palmer herself.
When the dust settled, Palmer joked that she had adopted Ashton Kutcher’s hidden camera show Punk’d must be revived.
She then asked the room to take a collective breath, the audience erupted into a round of applause, and the podcast recording got back on track.
