Keke Palmer remembers the time Tyler James Williams pulled out a ‘black card’ as a teen

Now on ABC’s hit sitcom Abbott Elementary, Tyler James Williams is adding to his fortune. In the past, however, he had flexed on Keke Palmer with an American Express black card, allegedly. It had been reported the child actor earned close to $200,000 an episode. Williams batted down these claims as rumors and that the “on your first show, the quote is really, really low.”

But he didn’t say anything about that black card.

Palmer still maintains the first time she saw the card and wondered what it was. Williams, aged fourteen, just whipped it out like he had a trump card in a game of poker. True to the game, Palmer also had a career as a child star on shows like Nickelodeon's True Jackson, VP.

She caught flack for disclosing the idea of Williams possessing such a coveted card. Williams has been vocal about shooting down the rumors and making it clear that he wasn’t balling like that back then. He had a decent amount of money and possibly a black card, but that was about it.

Still, she holds to the notion that she had seen the American Express hardware in Williams’ possession. It may have been a flex when Shad “Bow Wow” Moss voiced in a song that he was under twenty one with a black card. But this kind of raises the stakes.

For young, gifted, and black performers to reap the benefits of their labor, that is the key to longevity and success in a world where many child stars become addicts, burnouts, and never re-capture the magic that once gave them star power.

These Foundational Black American (FBA) actors sometimes fall by the wayside. Williams and Palmer have kept their flames aglow. They have been able to champion the thought of making it in Hollywood as former child actors. Their current status as guardians over their financial situations speaks to their upbringing and the monetary moves they made.

With both of them, they have shown just how powerful they are with their abilities to get on screen and perform. All of their efforts have been for the benefit of their bank accounts. Every ounce of their being has been dedicated to earning a deposit.

As the rumors about his initial earnings on the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris continue to fly, Tyler James Williams maintains that he didn’t get paid that much starting out on the show and may have never received that much by its end.

The Re-up Gang, composed of Clipse members Malice and Pusha T, always named themselves as part of the “Black Card Era.” This occurred during the mid two-thousands. As they boasted about dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars on items and just leaving the card to be mailed to the address on file. This is the power of the “African American Express” card as Ye once put it.

The reality is that most people will never carry a black card. So for Palmer to point out the fact she witnessed at such a young age Williams lay down the black card at 14, that is rather profound. Her recollection may not be completely solid, but she may have an edge on the story. When she claimed to have seen Williams with the card, she was around the same age. He being almost a year older than her, they had kindred spirits as youthful performers on separate shows. They took it upon themselves to carve out of stone their own personas and have been living well up to now.

In all the commotion about black cards and being able to feed your family as a child, that’s impressive beyond any measure.