Actor and “All the Queen’s Men” creator Christian Keyes made a shocking revelation over the weekend when he accused a powerful Black Hollywood “billionaire” of sexual harassment.
In a nearly hour-long video on Instagram, Keyes alleged that the unnamed individual attempted to “climb” into bed with him in a room while he was intoxicated at a party. He added that the man also offered him $100,000 to strip and another actress patted his “equipment.” Though he’s never publicly spoken about these interactions in fear of being blackballed from the industry, his experience with trauma goes back further than his early acting years.
As a child who grew up in the foster care system, the now-48-year-old recalls suffering abuse at the hands of his very first adoptive mother, Mrs. Keyes. When asked to describe his childhood of “bouncing around” different foster homes between Detroit, Pontiac, and Flint, Michigan, Keyes told Atlanta Black Star, “It was interesting, to say the least.“
The accomplished playwright and screenwriter, who was adopted twice since the age of 3, said there wasn’t much consistency being raised by court-appointed guardians.
“The only consistent thing in some of the foster homes were pencil and paper. So if you’re in a less than wonderful environment, you know, I could create or I could write a place, write myself into a space that was better than what I was experiencing, so that helped,” Keyes explained, noting that writing eventually became his “refuge.”
“You know, a place to mentally escape this or that or child abuse or, feelings of neglect or not being worthy, things like that … and it definitely shaped my storytelling.”
Christian Keyes is about to take down a powerful man in Hollywood
— ❄️🗝️ (@DiaryOfKeysus) December 16, 2023
Finna watch how this all unfolds 👀
pic.twitter.com/BBNQwdW31o
The “Saints and Sinners” star remained mum on why he was placed into foster care but he went on to discuss his upbringing with Mrs. Keyes, who formally adopted him. He described her as an “incredibly abusive” woman who would hit him with a “bat, hammer, broomstick, saucepan, and/or bottle.”
“When the belt didn’t … when it wasn’t as effective as she wanted. When it didn’t make us scream loud enough, she would hold the leather side and beat us with the belt buckle. It gets worse,” he continued. “But it was that kind of environment between eight and 12. So by 9, I started running away. By 10, I was pretty good. By 11, I was a professional runaway.”
Running away became his norm as Keyes learned to fend for himself by stealing or eating out of the garbage cans at McDonald’s and Farmer Jack supermarkets.
“Child Protective Services, man, they dropped the ball probably a dozen times. Neighbors complained because she would have, as a punishment, she made me walk down the street naked in the rain at 9 years old to ask a neighbor for a magazine — The Watchtower and Awake — Ask another Jehovah’s Witness family.”
The state of Michigan has been accused of dropping the ball on numerous occasions, with 371 children dying from abuse or neglect in the past decade, according to the Detroit News. Families of the children have accused CPS of not thoroughly investigating allegations, while experts have blamed overworked caseworkers and crowded homes with too many children under one roof.
“It took a couple of decades to build my self-esteem back up and to heal from all that. And it was heavy and painful,” said the singer-songwriter, “but I was so happy to get out of there.”
Keyes began to see better days after a second adoption with another family under Michelle Williams, who had no problem taking care of him without being paid.
“It was wonderful. The family taught me love. Taught me how to be a man. Taught me responsibility,” he stated, adding that he learned discipline from having an “extensive chore list, including cutting the grass, taking the trash out, and washing dishes.
He added that Johnson took him in without any formal paperwork filing, which came much later. Keyes’ upbringing also led him to study social work at Ferris State University, but he ended up focusing more on singing and writing.
“I mean I’ve been in group homes, detention centers, foster homes, and dealt with child abuse and neglect, and I figure I could affect some change on the other side. So, you know, why not?” said ‘The Family Business” star.
#celebritiesonlyblackpeopleknow Christian Keyes: What's done in the dark, diary of a mad black woman pic.twitter.com/54DxGqh5TE
— Jeremy Keianté (@Music_Maniac_19) November 23, 2015
Instead of pursuing a career as a social worker, Keyes took the more creative route and dove deeper into his music and his writing. He started doing local stage plays before gaining the attention of media and film mogul, Tyler Perry, whom he’s grown to work closely with over the years.
Perry currently serves as executive producer of Keyes’ “All the Queen’s Men,” which airs on BET+ through his partnership. He also cast Keyes in his stage plays “Madea Goes to Jail,” “What’s Done In the Dark,” and the blockbuster movie “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.”
