Usher Reflects on 2023 Show Moment with Keke Palmer That 'Caused Some Ruckus' in Her Relationship: 'You Looked Fabulous'

Keke Palmer and Usher enjoyed a dance heard ‘round the world at his concert in 2023 — and now, the stars are reuniting to reflect on the moment they joke “literally shut down the whole world for two seconds.”

Usher, 46, appeared on Palmer’s Baby, This Is Keke Palmer podcast on Tuesday, Feb. 11, a year and a half after dancing together at his concert in Las Vegas, which prompted a viral response from Palmer’s then-boyfriend Darius Jackson.

“My reaction [to the show] was just like, ‘I can’t believe it, I haven’t seen anybody perform like this in such a long time,’” Palmer recalled of seeing Usher in concert for the first time that night. “Now obviously everybody went crazy. We caused some ruckus in my relationship.”

Palmer, 31, rocked a sheer black dress that night, and though Usher often serenaded stars during his set (he had similar moments with Issa Rae, Taraji P. Henson and more), Jackson later took to social media to express his disapproval of Palmer’s outfit.

“It’s the outfit tho… you a mom,” he wrote, in part, referring to their now 2-year-old son Leo.

On the podcast, Usher asked Palmer if he had "anything to do with what was going on in [her] home” at the time in a light-hearted attempt to clear his name from the drama that followed with Jackson.

“I don’t want to take any responsibility for breaking everybody’s home up, but that wasn’t the purpose and point,” he said. “It was for you to have a good time with your girls. Come out there and just enjoy… You looked fabulous, by the way. And if you didn’t wear what you wore, I wouldn’t have seen you. You was fabulous, amazing. I was like, ‘Oooh, Keke, come here, girl.’”

In response, Palmer said she did indeed have a good time, and admitted, “People have problems. Relationships have up and downs. If Usher ends up being there, it’s just coincidence.”

The “U Got It Bad” singer also reflected on having Palmer star in his “Boyfriend” music video just one month after the drama unfolded.

“I know it was a hot moment for you and I was like, ‘You know what? When life feeds you lemons, you make lemonade. I think that this could be something positive and actually just shine a little bit of fun on it and allowing us to really do something that I think could be fun is the purpose and point of it,’” he said. “‘Let’s do something that just takes the mind off of it and just have a good time. Don’t focus on the drama.’”

Palmer previously opened up to PEOPLE about her reaction to Jackson’s posts in a cover story in October, saying she was left “speechless” by both his posts and the fan reaction.

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

Palmer went on to describe her relationship with Jackson as “unhealthy,” saying she blamed the stress of new parenthood and also fame.

"I live a very basic life, but fame would make you think that I go to the Usher concert and pull him off the stage and have him wrapped around my finger," she said. "You might think that, but it's like, 'Girl, I'm just like every other mama going out for a night.'"

The One of Them Days star’s relationship with Jackson eventually ended amid allegations of domestic violence and a custody battle, though she told PEOPLE that the two are now in a good place and settled amicably on a joint custody agreement.

“I wish I could say he was terrible the entire time or that I was ... but it wasn’t that black-and-white and that was the problem,” she said. “I didn’t want my son to think his father is a monster, because I don’t."