Keshia Knight Pulliam is one of those stars we forget is no longer a child. Our forever Rudy Huxtable is a grown woman with her own family. In fact, Pulliam is gearing up for her second child. After a rough first go at motherhood, fans are hoping this time around will be different for the former Cosby Show star.
Keshia got her start on our television screens as a child and grew up right before our eyes. Many were so excited to find out that the Newark, NJ native found love in 2015 with former National Football League player Edgerton Hartwell. They duo got engaged on New Year’s Eve 2015 and got married the very next day, January 1st, 2016, in their Atlanta home. However, the couple did not last long and had already filed for divorce by July 25th, 2016. Knight was already pregnant at the time and gave birth to their daughter Ella Grace Hartwell on January 23rd, 2017.
Keshia and Ed finalized their split by April 2018, and Pulliam was granted full custody of their daughter. Ed was ordered to pay $3,000 a month in child support. In interviews following the split, Keshia revealed how bad things were for her and Ed. In their divorce filing, she detailed how violent and abusive Ed was towards her. According to TMZ, “Keshia claims in divorce docs Ed ‘has been plotting to harm and obstruct [her] pregnancy’ by engaging in ‘certain underhanded and unusual conduct’ that would trigger a miscarriage.”
Keshia was so scared of Ed that she demanded he be asked to stay away from her and turn all his firearms over to the authorities. She alleged that he verbally abused her the entire marriage and cheated on her continuously. Finally free from her ex-husband, Pulliam also had to deal with some internalized racism in the healthcare system. The actress was offered WIC for her and her newborn after doctors assumed she was a “little poor black girl.” Keshia says that it was an older white woman in her ’70s who made the assumption. “Bless this old little lady’s heart. This old little white lady-she’s like about 70 years old.”
Pulliam says the whole experience was an eye-opener and says the woman was very pushy and assumed she had no insurance. She assured the woman that she had excellent insurance and recalled the lady not wanting to help her breastfeed either.
With that kind of experience the first go-round, it’s a wonder she would want to try for baby number two. However, Keshia has found new love and is excited to give her partner, actor Brad James, a baby. The pair met while acting together in a film and are gearing up for their first child together, which they revealed on the Tamron Hall Show. “Oh, Baby Baby!! Baby James coming in 2023!! 🥰❤️🥰,” they said in a post.
While on Tamron’s Show, the pair revealed how they fell in love on the set of A New Orleans Noel on Lifetime. The flirty pair laugh about crushing on each other while playing on-screen love interests.
