‘Southern Fried Rice’ Ruckus: Keke Palmer & Nakia Stephens Speak Out Amid Backlash Over HBCU-Centered Show
Keke Palmer and screenwriter Nakia Stephens have joined forces to bring a new original series, Southern Fried Rice, to Palmer’s KeyTV platform, a digital media network dedicated to uplifting Black stories and creatives. But since the show’s release, social media users have been divided over its unique plotline, which centers on an Asian American character.
Premiering its first two episodes on Oct. 22, Southern Fried Rice follows an Asian American woman, Koko Johnson, played by Page Yang, as she explores her identity and culture while growing up with Southern Black parents. The themes collide when Koko attends Wright University, a prestigious fictional HBCU in Atlanta, and her late father’s alma mater. There, she faces questions of belonging and self-discovery, according to Complex. The cast also includes Kordell Beckham, Choyce Brown, Ashley India, Jada Lewis, and Shaun Rose.
Palmer described the project as embodying her network’s mission— a story that celebrates “diverse realities while still being full of humor, love, and heart.” Yet, not everyone online agreed with the actress’s ethos.
Reactions to Southern Fried Rice have been mixed.
After the trailer and first two episodes dropped, some social media users voiced frustration. On X, one user wrote that the show’s lead should have been a Black actress, given its HBCU setting and KeyTV’s mission to center Black stories.
“Black women aren’t a monolith; they could’ve easily made it about the transformation you go through experiencing an HBCU. Esp if said BW went to a PWI. This just looks like a sloppy attempt to force diversity in a show when black people have to beg for one supp-role elsewhere,” the user penned.
Another added:
“I think the obvious issue is, there is literally no need for the main character at an HBCU to be asian???”
Some users said the show pulled influence from the real-life story of Cindy Wilson.
Some users also pointed out similarities between Stephens’ show and the real-life story of writer Cindy Wilson, a Korean-born woman adopted by a Black family in Mississippi. Wilson, who detailed her journey in her 2018 memoir Too Much Soul, wrote about growing up in Jackson, Mississippi, after being adopted from Seoul, South Korea. “See how she fights and loves her way through life as she searches for her identity and discovers her place in the world despite the strongholds that society tries to place on her,” the book’s description reads.
Several people online accused Stephens of failing to give Wilson proper credit.
Still, other viewers embraced the series’ unconventional storyline. One person on X wrote:
“I know plenty of non POC that went to HBCUs that received scholarships for being a minority, so I’m interested in seeing how this turns out.”
Another viewer appreciated the show’s approach to cultural representation, saying:
“Am I the only one open to the idea of this? I watched the trailer and the main character is tastefully written (w/o a Blaccent) and there are plenty of Black women and men within the show.”
Keke Palmer and Nakia Stephens chimed in on the discourse.
As the controversy spread, both Palmer and Stephens addressed the conversation directly. In a video shared on Oct. 23, Palmer spoke out to clarify the intentions behind Southern Fried Rice and to spotlight the Black creatives involved in the project, including Stephens, whom she has invested almost half a million dollars in over the years for previous shows on KeyTV.
“I wanted to chop it up real quick about this series called ‘Southern Fried Rice’ that’s premiering on KeyTV, which is receiving some controversial feedback. Now, Southern Fried Rice was created by Nakia Stephens. While I can’t speak to her inspiration for the show, I can speak to her dedication as a creative,” Palmer said in a video posted on social media. “Nakia has written, showran, and produced four shows alongside her Damn Write Originals team with KeyTV, and KeyTV has proudly invested over half a million dollars in her creations. And I say that because it’s not easy to obtain that kind of investment.”
She continued:
“[At] KeyTV, that is the ethos of the company. It’s a network, not just because it has stars and shows or has talent, but because it’s about the people who create the shows and connecting them.”
Keke Palmer went on to name other Black creatives KeyTV has supported, including Antwan Lawshe, Eric & Rosero McCoy, and Chelsea Sanders, adding:
“Look, what you like is subjective, but the support of Black creatives is not, and it’s a task that KeyTV takes on with pride. Because if you want to be a creative, you have to be able to create, and that takes money, and it’s KeyTV’s mission to find the funds for you to be in practice, for you to experience trial and error, and to take your projects off the page and get more than one chance to do it in action. So, whether you like it all or some or none, I say, give these creators a chance to grow as we continue to grow in supporting them.”
Stephens also spoke up, posting a message on Instagram that same day.
“I welcome conversation. I welcome curiosity,” she shared. “Our ultimate goal was to spark conversation around culture, around belonging and identity, and so that’s what I think I’ve done.”
She added that the show had been a decade in the making and was deeply personal:
“Southern Fried Rice is 10-plus years in the making, and it was inspired by my own HBCU experience and observations as a student at Savannah State University, the first public HBCU in Georgia,” she explained. “I had friends at Savannah State University. And people in my orbit who were non-Black and had to navigate a historically Black space, and I saw how hard and challenging and fun and beautiful it was for them to do so, and that sparked my curiosity and honestly planted the seed for Southern Fried Rice.”
Have you seen Southern Fried Rice yet? Tell us your thoughts about the show in the comments section.
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