I am fairly amazed that Julia got this interview.
In my attempts to learn information I have bounced off the wall that is Tank a number of times.
He guards Levi like a mother lion protecting her cubs and I have never managed to get access despite my repeated attempts.
Here Julia also notes how hard it is to get access.
It's not easy to get an interview with Levi. Tabloids are out. Rex turned down The New York Times because they were too pushy. He also didn't appreciate it when a reporter ambushed Levi with a microphone. "We're CNN! We're CNN!" Rex recalled them saying.
"Our position was, 'We'll be seeing you. We'll be seeing you,' " he said.
Being selective is part of maintaining mystery around his client, Rex said. He didn't allow him to sit for too many interviews because there were some parts of the story that wouldn't be revealed until he writes a book.
So far, Levi hasn't turned his fame into serious cash, but Rex and Tank think he's poised to change that. Journalists are asking him more about himself now, rather than focusing on the Palins.
"People want to know more about what Levi knows," Rex said.
I asked Levi what he thought people wanted from him. He was quiet for about 15 seconds.
"I don't know," he said.
Tank came to the rescue. Americans love an underdog, he said.
The one thing I CANNOT figure out is why Levi has not managed to make a book deal yet?
I would sell my house and give Levi the money for the opportunity to write that book!
Well all I know is when it gets written I will be one of the first people in line to buy it.
Levi's rules: Speak from the heart and don't lie. Take care of the people at home, because they're the ones who matter. Don't be petty. Don't engage with your critics. Be organized. Stay connected to your roots.
ReplyDeleteToo bad La Sarah never learned those rules.
Julia's getting slammed in the comments, but I thought it was an interesting piece. Pat in Texas
Here's an interesting line from the article:
ReplyDelete"He didn't allow him to sit for too many interviews because there were some parts of the story that wouldn't be revealed until he writes a book."
And Gryphen, it also mentions that Levi had just been in NYC doing a photo shoot for Vanity Fair - which corroborates your report yesterday that they have a big interview with him coming out soon.
And I wonder if perhaps the VF interview is in lieu of a book deal?
Read the article and the comments. Not too much new from him.
ReplyDeleteThe comments are horrible. When I was learning to write in English classes so many years ago, I was taught to write positively and objectively about subjects. I am amazed at the anger, jealousy, and vinegar that is spewed at him. This kid lost high school and was pushed into the spotlight, so those with college degrees are going to denigrate his success (if you call it that.). He did what a lot of other teenagers all over this country and world do. Some of them get caught with pregnancies and others don't. So what.
And just because a women writes positively about Levi and his sidekicks, she is accused of wanting to have sex with one of them. Yikes what chauvinism and sexual harrassment!
If he and his Mom did not have Rex and Tank, the media and SP would probably be tearing them to shreds. He is also taking care of his son and that is not acknowledged either in comments.
Good luck Levi.
Poor Levi and the "cards that were dealt to him." I am sympathetic towards Levi; I think that he must a nice kid who got caught up in a really tough, complex situation, but this didn't just happen to him. A condom would have prevented it. I didn't see his arm in a sling meaning they didn't twist his arm to be on that campaign stage; he went there under his own power.
ReplyDeleteI wonder who pays the expensive bills of Rex Butler and Tank Jones. Are they waiting for the sweet money-making deals to earn their pay? The TV shows, magazine interview people must pay to fly them out and put them in hotels. Beyond that, how much money is there in an interview with Tyra or an interview with Vanity Fair?
And, if we follow the PD line of reasoning, this might not be Levi's first exposure to fatherhood. At what point is Levi responsible for getting himself into this mess, especially if it was the second time around.
Given Sarah Palin's recent internal destruction meltdown, Levi and his story are only going to be marketable for a little while longer. As Sarah's star keeps fading, I don't know if Levi has that much going for him. We will all have to wait for October's Vanity Fair; maybe I'll change my mind about him by then. Sweet kid, but the countdown clock is approaching 15 minutes.
O/T - Gryphen, were you threatened by Van Flein and then he folded????
ReplyDeleteAnother bullying Van Flein threat comes to nothing????
I am going to donate to you today! THANK YOU FOR STANDING UP TO THE PALIN THUGS! And you can all read about it here:
http://alaskareport.com/news39/x71284_flien.htm
Gryphen, Half way through readin the ADN story is a statement "he spends time with Tripp who is crawling now"
ReplyDeleteTrip was born 5-6 months ago. Babies do not crawl at that age.
Just read the Van Flein letter. Denial, denial, denial. I'll donate. I know a few lawyers, but they don't live in AK. Check on Rex and see if he has any free time.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to depose Sarah for all those emails! All of them, everyone last one of them, every last word on paper!
10 cats
Wow, Sarah isn't going to like this. Levi comes off as a kid who refuses to be victimized, while Sarah comes off as a user who throws people under the bus.
ReplyDeleteI like Levi. I think he does talk from the heart, and while he lies sometimes, they are little white lies that are for protection rather than self-aggrandizement. He has remained amazingly gracious to Sarah, despite the venom she has spewed at him. And what really makes me like him is that he palls around with a couple of black guys. For a redneck from Wasilla, that shows he has the capacity to grow. And that's important.
Midnight
Anon 7:37am makes some very good points.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe Levi isn't already writing down his story and working with a good editor. There are going to be several Palin-themed books published, and soon.
anon@7:37 - I'm just curious here - you are attacking Levi for being unable to stand up against the steamroller that is Sarah? He was used, like all of her children, as a prop boy.
ReplyDeleteRE: the money they get for interviews. They have CLEARLY STATED to anyone who bothers to listen, that the interviews have not been paid. They receive travel and accommodations - they are not paid for their interview.
You have now made the leap and allegation that Levi might have another child. So what? Of course he is "responsible" and everything I have seen and read about him indicates he is TRYING to be a father to his child. How can you fault him for that?
I agree that time is fleeting - he needs to write the book before she is committed. I'm not sure just how politically astute he is - it appears to me that he has been caught up in the Weirdness that is Palin and also his mother's drug problems being potentially interfered with by (surprise) yet again Sarah.
At all times, these are still children having babies. Regardless of who is to blame, he really doesn't have marketable skills - and I must give him credit for trying.
Anon@8:24:
Alaska Reports has the Van Flea letter en toto.
Anonymous @ 7:37 AM, you said, "I didn't see his arm in a sling meaning they didn't twist his arm to be on that campaign stage; he went there under his own power."
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be too judgmental on Levi Johnston showing up at the RNC with the Palin clan, if I were you.
Assuming the story is accurate of Todd Palin pulling a gun on Levi when he found out about Bristol being pregnant, how do you know that THAT wasn't the "arm twisting"?
And your reference to the "PD line of reasoning"? Audrey at PD always has focussed on Sarah Palin not being pregnant and giving birth to Trig Palin, not "Levi's first exposure to fatherhood" or who the real mother of Trig is.
Those latter two are just a sideshow of Palin's own making, thanks to her standing them up before the whole world on the RNC stage.
I'd like to know how a self proclaimed "f@*ing redneck" can afford to pay a 24/7 body guard, and an attorney???
ReplyDeletecertainly his "job" which he can't be working at much these days isn't paying those kinds of bills.
Anonymous at 8:26
ReplyDeleteActually, my children were crawling by six months.
Gryphen: Thought you might be interested in the following definition of the words libel and slander since they seem to always get mixed up.
ReplyDeleteIn law, defamation -- also called calumny, libel (for written words), slander (for spoken words), and vilification -- is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government or nation a negative image. It is usually, but not always,[1] a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).
In common law jurisdictions, slander refers to a malicious, false and defamatory spoken statement or report, while libel refers to any other form of communication such as written words or images.
Since SP already has a negative image - how can anything you say be considered libel? We already think she's a lying dishonest cretin. Nothing you ever said could change my mind about her.
The fact that you are choosing to stand by your story implies belief in what you have posted.
Hang tight Gryphen. The truth will win.
I am certain Gryphen knows what he's doing. I, for one, am not worried.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I am very impressed with Gryphen.
I WILL BE DONATING TO HIM FORTHWITH.
I think Levi has done exactly what he needed to do - whether it was serendipity, a smart sister, or just meant to be. He's in a great spot to be a caring dad, and to explore the world outside of the Silla.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about the comments at the ADN story - these are not Alaskans and it's just the usual disgusting Palin zombie thugs who I completely write off the human being list. If ADN had their act together, and they don't by any stretch of the imagination, they would have updated their comment system long ago. They use the hits for their own purposes, so they just don't care if the "hit" leaves a nasty and creepy comment or a intelligent one. I also wrote them off months ago except for the rural blog. Gossip, bad writing, weird guest writers, flip flopping, very little follow up - that's the good ol' ADN!
One additional claim on libel and slander. It must have intent to defame.
ReplyDeleteIt must be a lie that is printed deliberately to defame someone, knowing that it is a lie when printed.
The law specifically states that with "public figures" the bar is significantly raised.
Also, The Flea must prove that Gryphen has acted with malice deliberately to injure poor little $arah's reputation (????????) She can't have it both ways and it appears the allegations on the gun and the interference occurred when she was Governor. That seems to make her a PUBLIC FIGURE at the time.
When are these people going to recognize that you cannot control the "news" and "bloggers" with threats and intimidation just because someone writes a story that is negative?
Waiting for The Flea's next expensive move that will cause the C4P idiots to send lots of money to pay his ever increasing bill.
Why Gryphen, I saw the article on Huff Post. You are becoming famous. I read a post from someone who said maybe it was really about babygate. And the info was feed as a distraction. Could that be true?
ReplyDeletePalin's Deception videos are posted there as well. Maybe the poster is correct. Didn't you have a post a couple of days ago about babygate?
Anyway, Gryphen, keep up the good work!!
Thx for clarificaion, basheert. Plus the person who claims to have been libeled must prove it was not true. The process of proving innocence is often so very interesting (to bloggers like us who are already pretty well informed re basic facts of the situation) that most "libeled" people would rather skip it -- way too embarrassing! Way too much other factual stuff -- that you'd rather keep quiet -- would come to light.
ReplyDeleteNooooo, I don't think our Gryph will be getting any actual legal action against him any time soon.
Threats? Sure. They are cheap.
this is the ugliest blog I have seen in a while -take a day off from kindergarten and get a new template.
ReplyDeleteThe flea also defamed Gryphen (as he did Shannyn) in his lietter, as he stated that Gryphen must have known it was a lie when he posted his blog report and that he did so with malice.
ReplyDeleteHow does the flea know what Gryphen knows? How does the flea know what Gryphen's intentions were?
Sarah Palin has lied over and over about the intentions of Alaskan bloggers, even after she was corrected, she continued with the lie that they are political operatives of Obama's and the Democrats, insinuating that they are lying and have an agenda other than the truth. The Alaskan bloggers have also been subjected to Sarah Palin's calling for a "backlash" against them, and I can only imagine the kinds of threats they receive from her cult.
Can you Alaskan bloggers say CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT???
We will all donate, I'm sure. And just think about the deposition fun!!!
Anonymous at 8:26 Tripp is now 7 months old, and yes some babies do crawl at 5 months. Mine did.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking Julia's interview, Gryph! The slideshow of Team Levi is awesome. I recommend we leave supportive comments at ADN for Julia to help balance out the Palin supporters feedback.
ReplyDeleteAKaurora: Well he's 7 months old IF he was born when they say he was born, unless of course he is SIX months old because he was born in late January/early February.
ReplyDeleteHonestly it is becoming difficult to keep these kids straight.
Oh Gryphen: Let's all force $arah to prove a negative ok?
The Palins trash anyone that disagrees with them, that dislikes them, that knows their dirty little secrets, that questions their politics - you name it and they try to control it.
Van Flea is toast. You posted NOTHING with malice. There is no way to prove you set out to defame her. For heaven's sake, the nitwit has defamed herself in every possible without help from anyone.
It's not like her wild eyed, crazy, egomaniac, sociopathic, narcissistic behavior is a secret that you exposed.
I'll donate - and yes babies do crawl at 5-7 months, it depends upon the child and some is also genetic. In my family, all the girls crawl 1-2 months (and walk) earlier than the boys.
the general consensus is that Palin is a whiny victim. Might I suggest that we all start rehashing every single GATE of hers so that she can really feel the "backlash"?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Housegate has a few stories yet to tell. Talk about Pallin' around with corrupt politicians. Palin's mentor Ted Stevens and the builder who serviced them both. Nice.
Anon@11:26-Van flea, also goes on the Eddie burke show and Slander's everyone who has Filed ethics compaints and will probably go tomorrow on Eddies show to slander Gryphen as well. Him and Eddie laugh and have a grand time slandering people.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is now, GINO is XGINO now!
So he better watch his back. He just a lawyer for a NOBODY A QUITTER...now!!!
sue me!!! :)
Who knows what secrets Levi is suppose to be keeping. He seems to just be open about everything. I believe the Tank is there to filter what he says to protect him from violating agreements. Levi may have a agreement to wait a period of time before talking about certain parts of the story.
ReplyDeleteCelia I agree and to keep him from saying to much.He was pulled out of school and told he had to go with the Palins.He has already said that Bristol called him home from hunting to tell him they were going. As for High school it took my daughter until she was 35 to get her high school diploma so Levi has time and if his attorney has any brains he has told him to at least get his GED.The people at ADN has comments about him and what he might do but nothing is said about the track Bristol has taken He may get support from her
ReplyDelete