Actress Keshia Knight-Pulliam, best known for her childhood role as Rudy Huxtable, on the hit NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–92) and as Miranda Lucas-Payne on the TBS comedy-drama Tyler Perry's House of Payne, has literally grown up right in front of our eyes. Knight-Pulliam became the youngest actress to be nominated for an Emmy Award, receiving a nomination at age six for Outstanding Supporting Actress in A Comedy Series. She made her professional debut at nine months old, in a national print advertisement for Johnson & Johnson baby products and made her feature-film debut in The Last Dragon (1985). She is ranked at No. 19 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid Stars."
Now, at age 43, she's now married again, happier, a mother of a beautiful baby girl and loving every minute of it. In her words, she's truly living her best life! But her journey his wasn't without it's own set of challenges.
She began dating her husband, Brad James, in 2019 after they met on the set of the TV movie "Pride and Prejudice: Atlanta," reports People.
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"Honestly, we just hit it off," Pulliam told 9 Mag TV of the pair's first meeting. "We had a lot of downtime. There was a lot going on filming that project. So there were plenty of times where we would all just be sitting in the cast seats or the van ... just talking."
James, who's best known for his role as Todd in the Tyler Perry sitcom "For Better or For Worse," proposed to Pulliam in Atlanta 2020, giving her a custom diamond eternity engagement band made by Fevzi of Aydin Jewelers.
They got married in October 2021--a second marriage for both Pulliam and James.
Keshia and her ex-husband, Ed Hartwell are not only officially divorced, but the two have finally settled on custody of their adorable only child together. The former child star won big in an ugly custody and separation battle with the former NFL star, according to TMZ.
Under their divorce agreement, Keisha was awarded primary custody of the couple's one-year-old daughter, Ella Grace while Hartwell gets visitation rights and a monthly $3,007 child support bill.
As per the couple's agreement, they also compromised on the fight regarding their daughter's last name.
Both wanted Ella Grace to bear only their last name. They ultimately found a middle ground, agreeing that she could have a hyphenated moniker.
This news comes gives Pulliam a much-needed sigh of relief after a very public and very quick relationship, marriage and ugly back and forth rumors.
If you recall, Pulliam and Hartwell surprisingly tied the knot before the New Year in 2016. Then in July of 2017, she announced she was expecting her first child. But initially, Hartwell denied being the child's father and a host of other unfavorable comments that are now in the past.
Pulliam, as with most of the world, was shocked to learn that her then-husband, Ed Hartwell, of only 7 months had decided to serve her with divorce papers only a week after she announced that she was pregnant with the couple’s first child...
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On Entertainment Tonight, she explained that she had actually drawn up the papers first, but she got pregnant she wanted to give the marriage another try.
“Early on in my marriage when I was faced with this [infidelity by him], I was ready to leave. It’s not OK,” Pulliam says. “In the process, I found out I was pregnant. And I had to take another hard look and decide if I wanted to try to work through this and forgive him for the sake of the child. Like, I had divorce papers ready. I presented it to him. … Once I was pregnant I did decide to give him that one last chance. The part that hurt me the most when he filed for divorce was that he had asked me to give him another chance, and I was willing to do that and forgive him, for our family,” she claims.
After all was said and done, Ed admitted that it was indeed his child after a paternity test, he wants to delay child support payments and is still fighting for custody.
"There's nothing to say at this point," she explains. "... The stress isn't healthy. And my only priority is her."
"Honestly, at the end of the day, it starts from the inside so you need consistency," admits Pulliam. "You cannot expect miracles overnight; it’s important to commit and give things time. As black women, we are not homogeneous, so you must create a routine based on your individual needs. There are so many vitamins and health products out there. Go to a really good nutritionist or find natural remedies to help maintain your health."
And she's right. The stress is NOT healthy for the baby, during and after pregnancy. In fact, when you’re stressed, your body goes into...
... "fight or flight" mode, sending out a burst of cortisol and other stress hormones. These are the same hormones that surge when you are in danger. They prepare you to run by sending a blast of fuel to your muscles and making your heart pump faster.
If you can deal with your stress and move on, your stress response will recede and your body will go back into balance. But constant stress could alter your body’s stress management system, causing it to overreact and trigger an inflammatory response.
Inflammation, in turn, has been linked to poorer pregnancy health and developmental problems in babies down the road. There are some data to show that higher chronic stressors in women and poor coping skills to deal with those stressors may be associated with lower birth weight and with delivering earlier.
Now, with her little girl Ella Grace by her side, Keisha is pushing forward and trying to stay as healthy and as stress-free. She acting again and has a spice line called Keisha's Kitchen to help with your cooking needs.
For more on your favorite celebrity's health, click here.
