Levi Keith Johnston (born May 3, 1990) is an aspiring male model and actor who was born and raised in Wasilla, Alaska. He first gained media attention in August 2008, when Sarah Palin, who was running for Vice President on the Republican Party ticket, announced that her unmarried teen daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant, and that Johnston was the father. A few months following the birth of their baby in December 2008, Johnston and Bristol Palin canceled their plans to marry and ended their three year relationship. Since that time, Johnston has pursued a career in the entertainment industry and he and the Palin family have engaged in public feuds.
Family life and education
Johnston is the eldest of two children born to Sherry and Keith Johnston in Wasilla, Alaska. He has a younger sister, Mercede. Johnston attended Wasilla High School, where he played hockey. However, he dropped out of high school to take a job on the North Slope oil fields as an apprentice electrician. In January 2009, Johnston quit his job. He is an avid hunter, who has hunted bears, sheep, elk, and caribou. In September 2008, it was reported that Johnston had "antlers scattered about the yard of his family home."
According to Johnston, he and Bristol began dating during their freshman year of high school. After losing a promise ring during a caribou hunt, Johnston had Bristol's name tattooed on his finger.
On September 1, 2008, Sarah Palin announced that her daughter Bristol was pregnant by Johnston, and that the two would be married. Johnston said that he and Bristol had planned on getting married anyway and that he was not being forced to marry her. Bristol Palin gave birth to their son, Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, on December 27, 2008, but the the two broke off their engagement in March 2009. In May, 2009, Johnston commented that his relationship with Bristol was improving and that they were determined to jointly raise Tripp.
Media attention during the 2008 Presidential election
Johnston attended the 2008 Republican National Convention with the Palin family. While Sarah Palin was delivering her prime-time nomination acceptance speech, the cameras frequently cut away to Johnston and the five months' pregnant Bristol. Johnston shook hands onstage with Sarah Palin's running mate, Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain, and was treated as a member of Palin's family. Fox News commentator Dick Morris, formerly a political strategist for President Bill Clinton, opined that McCain's decision to welcome Johnston to the stage was a good move, because it would help McCain show "a nonjudgmental attitude and a tolerant, ecumenical side", while still sending the message that unwed teens who become pregnant should marry.
2009 tell-all interviews
After breaking up with Bristol, Johnston gave a series of nationally televised interviews, appearing on such shows as The Tyra Banks Show,The Early Show, and Larry King Live. In one interview he said that he was "pretty sure" Sarah Palin had known that he and Bristol were having sex in the Alaska governor's mansion.[18] The Palin family denounced Johnston's statements as "lies". Responding to Bristol's public statements on abstinence, Johnston told The Early Show that "abstinence is a great idea, but I also think you need to enforce, you know, condoms and birth control and other things like that to have safe sex. I don't just think telling young kids, you can't have sex, it's not going to work. It's not realistic."
Johnston said he was appearing on The Tyra Banks Show with his mother and sister to dispel rumors: "there have been a lot of things in the newspapers and news ... saying I'd done steroids and drugs and cheated on Bristol ...". During the interview, Banks indicated that Johnston was not paid to appear on the show. Rebecca Traister of Salon.com, opined that the interview revealed that "Bristol and Levi's breakup had much less to do with Bristol and Levi than it had to do with the girl-girl dynamics of the ruptured friendship between Bristol and Mercede."
In August 2009, Johnston publicly speculated that Sarah Palin's early resignation from office was due to several reasons including long-standing marital difficulties, the pressures of the job of governor, and lucrative book and other media offers.
In a September 2009 Vanity Fair interview, Johnston stated that Sarah Palin initially wanted the couple to keep Bristol's pregnancy a secret, and offered to adopt the baby and raise him as her own. The young couple, however, rejected the plan.
Other activities
Johnston hired an Anchorage attorney, Rex Butler, (who is previously best known for representing criminal defendants and handling civil litigation),to represent him in his pursuit of a career in the entertainment industry.
Courtney Hazlett of MSNBC, reported speculation that Johnston had been giving media interviews in hopes of landing an endorsement or a modeling job. However, Vanity Fair asked various modeling agencies if they were considering hiring Johnston, and none of them said they were. According to Tirdad Derakhshani of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Johnston was "shopping around a memoir" concerning his time with Bristol. The Associated Press reported that Levi is also pursuing a movie deal.
Johnston and comedian Kathy Griffin attended the 2009 Teen Choice Awards together.
In October of 2009, Johnston appeared in a television commercial for the Wonderful Pistachios company, as part of their "Get Crackin" advertising campaign. The commercial features Johnston opening a pistachio as a voice-over states, "Now Levi Johnston does it with protection", a reference to claims made by Johnston that he and Bristol Palin had engaged in unprotected sex. Johnston will also be featured in a nude photo shoot for Playgirl, an online pornographic magazine. Levi's manager has been quoted as saying he is "90% sure" the pictorial will contain full frontal nudity.
Family life and education
Johnston is the eldest of two children born to Sherry and Keith Johnston in Wasilla, Alaska. He has a younger sister, Mercede. Johnston attended Wasilla High School, where he played hockey. However, he dropped out of high school to take a job on the North Slope oil fields as an apprentice electrician. In January 2009, Johnston quit his job. He is an avid hunter, who has hunted bears, sheep, elk, and caribou. In September 2008, it was reported that Johnston had "antlers scattered about the yard of his family home."
According to Johnston, he and Bristol began dating during their freshman year of high school. After losing a promise ring during a caribou hunt, Johnston had Bristol's name tattooed on his finger.
On September 1, 2008, Sarah Palin announced that her daughter Bristol was pregnant by Johnston, and that the two would be married. Johnston said that he and Bristol had planned on getting married anyway and that he was not being forced to marry her. Bristol Palin gave birth to their son, Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, on December 27, 2008, but the the two broke off their engagement in March 2009. In May, 2009, Johnston commented that his relationship with Bristol was improving and that they were determined to jointly raise Tripp.
Media attention during the 2008 Presidential election
Johnston attended the 2008 Republican National Convention with the Palin family. While Sarah Palin was delivering her prime-time nomination acceptance speech, the cameras frequently cut away to Johnston and the five months' pregnant Bristol. Johnston shook hands onstage with Sarah Palin's running mate, Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain, and was treated as a member of Palin's family. Fox News commentator Dick Morris, formerly a political strategist for President Bill Clinton, opined that McCain's decision to welcome Johnston to the stage was a good move, because it would help McCain show "a nonjudgmental attitude and a tolerant, ecumenical side", while still sending the message that unwed teens who become pregnant should marry.
2009 tell-all interviews
After breaking up with Bristol, Johnston gave a series of nationally televised interviews, appearing on such shows as The Tyra Banks Show,The Early Show, and Larry King Live. In one interview he said that he was "pretty sure" Sarah Palin had known that he and Bristol were having sex in the Alaska governor's mansion.[18] The Palin family denounced Johnston's statements as "lies". Responding to Bristol's public statements on abstinence, Johnston told The Early Show that "abstinence is a great idea, but I also think you need to enforce, you know, condoms and birth control and other things like that to have safe sex. I don't just think telling young kids, you can't have sex, it's not going to work. It's not realistic."
Johnston said he was appearing on The Tyra Banks Show with his mother and sister to dispel rumors: "there have been a lot of things in the newspapers and news ... saying I'd done steroids and drugs and cheated on Bristol ...". During the interview, Banks indicated that Johnston was not paid to appear on the show. Rebecca Traister of Salon.com, opined that the interview revealed that "Bristol and Levi's breakup had much less to do with Bristol and Levi than it had to do with the girl-girl dynamics of the ruptured friendship between Bristol and Mercede."
In August 2009, Johnston publicly speculated that Sarah Palin's early resignation from office was due to several reasons including long-standing marital difficulties, the pressures of the job of governor, and lucrative book and other media offers.
In a September 2009 Vanity Fair interview, Johnston stated that Sarah Palin initially wanted the couple to keep Bristol's pregnancy a secret, and offered to adopt the baby and raise him as her own. The young couple, however, rejected the plan.
Other activities
Johnston hired an Anchorage attorney, Rex Butler, (who is previously best known for representing criminal defendants and handling civil litigation),to represent him in his pursuit of a career in the entertainment industry.
Courtney Hazlett of MSNBC, reported speculation that Johnston had been giving media interviews in hopes of landing an endorsement or a modeling job. However, Vanity Fair asked various modeling agencies if they were considering hiring Johnston, and none of them said they were. According to Tirdad Derakhshani of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Johnston was "shopping around a memoir" concerning his time with Bristol. The Associated Press reported that Levi is also pursuing a movie deal.
Johnston and comedian Kathy Griffin attended the 2009 Teen Choice Awards together.
In October of 2009, Johnston appeared in a television commercial for the Wonderful Pistachios company, as part of their "Get Crackin" advertising campaign. The commercial features Johnston opening a pistachio as a voice-over states, "Now Levi Johnston does it with protection", a reference to claims made by Johnston that he and Bristol Palin had engaged in unprotected sex. Johnston will also be featured in a nude photo shoot for Playgirl, an online pornographic magazine. Levi's manager has been quoted as saying he is "90% sure" the pictorial will contain full frontal nudity.
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