Magazine executive denies Palin baby reports
Published Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Digg
delicious
Facebook
Mixx
Reddit
Stumble It!Anchorage — The report from MSNBC came a day after People broke the news that the 18-year-old unmarried daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin gave birth to Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston on Saturday. The father is Levi Johnston, a high school dropout who is now an apprentice electrician. He has said that he and Bristol plan to get married.
MSNBC's report quoted unnamed sources saying bidding for the baby photos began at $100,000 and increased after Johnston's mother Sherry was arrested on felony drug charges this month involving OxyContin, a potentially addictive prescription painkiller. MSNBC said estimates of the deal were in the $300,000 range.
People managing editor Larry Hackett said the magazine has had "conversations" about photos with a Palin representative, but no deal has been made and no money has been given to the Palins.
"Would I like the pictures? I would love the pictures, but I don't have them," he said.
Hackett wouldn't elaborate on discussions, however, if they are continuing or how much the magazine would be willing to pay.
The $300,000 figure would be appropriate for a sit-down portrait session of the newborn and his parents - but only if it includes Sarah Palin, said Paul Harris with Pacific Coast News, an entertainment photo agency based in Los Angeles.
And unless Alaska's Republican governor is a presidential contender in 2012, Harris doesn't anticipate escalating interest in paying big money for street photos of her grandson and his teenage mother.
"Maybe if the father left her and went off with Angelina Jolie, but that might not happen," he said.
The governor's office on Tuesday did not return requests for comment, but has said the baby's birth is a private, family matter.
Colleen Jones, the sister of Bristol's grandmother Sally Heath, said she hasn't spoken with the Palins about the newest addition to the family. She learned about the birth in an e-mail Heath sent to family members.
"I think it's great and I'm glad that everybody is fine," Jones said in a phone interview from her Kennewick, Wash., home. "That's my first great, great whatever he is."
Community Discussion
Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.
"Tripp"? Far out, man.
Well, were it to be true, with that bundle of joy (300K) and Levi's slope deal, they certainly are sitting prettier than most teen parents....good luck to them.
No kidding tok242!! What a windfall.
If that is true, maybe Levi can take a break from the slope and finish high school, or at a minimum, finsih through home school/corospondence school
I got some photos i will sell them for one hundred grand not of the baby or any palin though
That's just plain stupid, IMHO. No real journalism here. ...zzzzzz...
All-righty then, we have officially entered the realm of the surreal.
I was under the impression that a minimum qualification for an electrician apprentice position was a high school diploma or GED. We know he doesn't have a diploma and I haven't seen anything showing he got a GED.
Surely our governor wouldn't abuse her position to get the father of her two grandchildren a job...
Pavel -- you do know that what you are committing is libel? It is now documented (forever) and your URL is known to the FDNM. If subpoenaed, they will have to provide it to justice authorities.
Do you have any evidence whatsoever, that Trigg is Bristol's baby? Or are you just a malicious D-A?
I'm kind'a wondering myself on how ol' Levi gets an electrician apprenticeship without a high school diploma ? Sounds/looks like some "clear and transparent good ol' boy" nepotism to me, but I guess I've seen a ton of that for years on the Slope/bush Ak. Trouble is most of the folks aren't qualified to be pushing a broom.
Prospector, I'm thinking Pavel doesn't have much to worry about as far as a stupid libel/slander anything suit goes. Seems to me our esteemed guv hung her own kids out to dry, fend for themselves.
It doesn't get any better than this, eh? Our very own Governor's unmarried teenager's illegitimate son earned $300K on his first day on the planet. Better put that money in trust for Tripp.
hckywtchr, that was my first thought, too.
Surely Bristol and Levi have had to pay a personal price, in terms of having their private lives paraded in front of an international audience, by Sarah's vp campaign. I'm like, if they can get 300K for a photo op, GO FOR IT! With that kind of money, all three of them could live a darned good life for the next 6 years at least. Levi can finish off his h.s. diploma, maybe start a few college or vocational courses. Bristol could do the same. And they'd still have plenty of money left over.
I said yesterday that I had this feeling Fortune was smiling down on all three of them. Had *no* clue that this is what it would translate to. But yeah, go for it Levi & Bristol! What a rare opportunity for such a young couple. Beautiful!
Indeed, what a long, strange trip it's already been. And the Tripp's barely even begun yet.
If you guys don't stop you're going to make Prospector cry.
Libel of a public figure is a tough hurdle to clear prosecution-wise, Prospector. There's a reason for that.
glow, interesting way of looking at things. Earning $300K in one's first *day* of life!!! Dude, if that trend continues, Tripp's going to make Bill Gates and Warren Buffett look like a bunch of paupers.
Prospector - you go after Pavel!! How ignorant for him to even insinuate that Trigg is not Sarah Palin's son. Do the baby math of birthdates.
I think anyone commenting would take the money if offered. It holds the key to lots of opportunities for these young adults to get their life on track and make a good start for themselves and their child.
BigMike, don't you ever have *anything* positive to say, and in a manner that indeed, someone didn't die and left you God of All Things? Your caustic cynicism about . . . just about everything . . . it's a downer, man. Whenever I come across anything you post, I immediately brace myself for a nosedive in my mood, and general good cheer. You never disappoint in this regard, I'm sorry to say.
BigMike, my New Years resolution for you is that you learn to start looking at the world around you with more humility, and certainly more optimism.
IF this story is true, it sure puts a damper on the ol' abstinence only thing, ya think? Promiscuity looks to be paying off big time. For the record, they're not my rules, they're theirs, but it sure seems hypocritical for the "just say no to sex" team to make such a large amount of money on a baby born from "sinful" behavior. I wish the couple the best, but I think it's disgusting that they'd get so much money for doing nothing more than being the princess governor's promiscuous daughter and baby daddy, when so many young people work so hard to do the right thing and get so little.
Most babies have been alive for about 270 days before they are born, nice try though.
Prospector...No one in committing libel if what they are saying is the truth. Sarah Palin would finally have prove that she gave birth to Trig. Medical records, affidavits, DNA, the works. Well...let's see it already. I say she did not give birth to Trig, and I am not the only one saying it. So far, not sopeana one from the Palin Truth Squad. And now dubious circumstances behind Tripp's birth are emerging. What is up with these people? Private Palin family matter? All this stopped being private Palin business the second she announced to the Nation that her daughter was pregnant out of wedlock. Then paraded her kids on stage to somehow validate her twisted neocon ideology. Her narcissism knows no limits when it comes at the expense of her children.
Not according to the government. Or most Americans. Or most of the scientific community. Or most of the world, for that matter.
Congratulations to Bristol and Levi. I hope, for Tripp's sake, they do a better job keeping their children out of the media circus than her mother did.
Both of you are mistaken. Aboy, you are a sick puppy and deserve to be neutered.
Henry, you make a valid point which I will concede, but respectfully disagree with. Just because some people jump of a cliff does not make it the intelligent course of action. Do you think that by consensus you are right? That line of thinking led to the holocaust and, almost as bad, disco. Millions died and then thirty years later millions more pranced around in super tight bellbottoms pretending to be John Travolta.
Life begins at conception, you can't rationalise away a simple fact. Kill the unborn if you want but understand what you are doing.
The only pictures of a clearly pregnant Palin were taken with newscaster Gusty at the end of the AK's legislature session. Her huge belly is fully displayed as she stands in profile for the camera. Yet three weeks later, when one would think she'd be even more noticeably pregnant, none of the flight attendants on her flight back to Alaska from the Texas governors' conference could tell she was even pregnant. They did not see any hint of the belly so obviously displayed just three weeks before in those two pictures. One would think a woman with a belly that large would need a seatbelt extender.
Curiouser and curiouser, these are the only two photos that show SP with a fully pregnant belly. The only photos for the entire eight months she was pregnant. A public figure, pregnant, and only two photos over eight months where she looks unquestionably, decidedly pregnant. And yet, no one knows who took the photos, the photos are posted to an anonymous flicker account on August 31, 2008 - just in time to coincide with the RNC and SP's nomination, and newscaster Gusty herself can't say how they came to be posted on the internet. But they are accepted by factcheck.org with Gusty's backing, and every major media outlet follows factcheck's lead and accepts without question the photos' legitimacy.
In what world does a pregnant lady progress from having an obviously, hugely, prominently pregnant belly to one so flat as to go unnoticed by trained personnel on not just one, but two flights? Personnel whose job it is to scan the laps of each passenger to make sure their seat belts are fastened? Three weeks after those photos were taken, not a hint of that hugely big belly was present. For goodness sake, the airlines held a press conference to say they did not know she was pregnant.
And yet, every major news outlet accepts that those two photos, the only photos that indisputably show SP to have been pregnant, are 100% legitimate and accurate, and consequently that her pregnancy was real and that SP is Trig's mother.
The truth is obvious. The only question is if people want to see it. There is no way a hugely pregnant woman could suddenly pass as non-pregnant, unless it was necessary for her to do so in order to pass through an airport's security check, unless she could remove that ginormous belly at will. Those two photos are staged. They were posted to the internet just to provide some badly needed evidence to support her pregnancy story.
But she would have been better off without them. If she would have just kept to her script that she was too fit to show her fifth pregnancy, she would have been able to dismiss the flight attendants' oversight as normal, as an oversight that occurred with everyone who saw her. But staging these photos was her mistake. She made her pregnant belly so huge and obvious in those photos that the flight attendants could not have missed it three weeks later. But they didn't see it. Not a one. Because it was not there.
Roadtrip, of all the hurtful and oppressive things that you can say <sob>. You are trashing DISCO????? Have you no compassion?????
henry, don't try to cloud this conversation with logic or science. you know people don't like that.
roadtrip: Thanks for advocating that human beings be "neutered", in the same breath as espousing how important it is to understand why life begins at conception. You made my morning, thank you. So quick to establish rights for the un-born at the same time you want to take rights from those already born. Wow...your hypocrisy is comical.
Galileo, not sure which pics your were looking at but I saw many where Gov Palin was clearly pregnant, including one taken of her backside. No mistaking that, as all women know. I think it was a family member who said Sarah/Todd always remain private about their pregnancies. If I had to guess I'd say that this one in particular was difficult, knowing Trig had special needs. Perhaps they needed that time to adjust to the idea of it. Nothing wrong with that. Also, an article written at the time of Trig's birth stated Sarah was due either middle of or late May. That means Trig was born a month early. That bit of information about the expected birth date could be wrong, as we all know about misreporting, but it does make sense. She would never have attended that conference if she knew her baby was due so close to that date. Capiche?
Only 2 pics exist of Sarah appearing "clearly pregnant" and one of those shows signs of having been photoshopped prior to being posted. smillas, please conduct further research. Other pics of a pregnant SP, show monumentally suspicious nuances that are inconsistant with all normal pregnant women. All we need to eat crow...and be guilty of libel as well, I suppose...is a certificate of live birth. Sarah's Med Record detailing pre and postnatal care. An affidavit from witnesses in the room. Private family or not. Questions have been raised for which there have not been sufficiant answers to. Regarding matters of integrity, public officials should be held to the highest statdards. Even Sarah Palin.
And 9-11 was an inside job. The FBI killed JFK. The CIA started every war in the last 75 years. And Monica was a vast right wing conspiracy plant.
My thoughts exactly roadtrip!
An ignore feature would be so useful on this site. ((sighs)) But then, when it's obvious drivel, I tend to skip over it anyways.
Congrats to Bristol and Levi :) Raise 'im well.
Idiots! Do you think anyone at her High School would have noticed that the slim Bristol was pregnant while attending school in her Sophomore/Junior years?
Why do we have to suffer such fools and follishness?
Pursang says -- "I'm thinking Pavel doesn't have much to worry about as far as a stupid libel/slander anything suit goes."
I think you're wrong on this. The New York Times wrote a fraudulent story about John McCain supposedly being "involved" with a lobbyist. The woman is now suing the NYT for $27,000,000 for libel and defamation.
There is nothing to stop Bristol and Trigg from bringing suit against any who they feel have libeled and defamed them. They have that choice.
That's the beauty and awesome liability of free speech. It's so very revealing. It allows really stupid people to say really stupid things. It also allows those who feel they are damaged by someone's stupid expression of free speech to bring suit against them.
majast2211: I've already warned Henry about that. lol
Okay, so Ms Palin had a healthy baby boy, that's AWESOME! Now as responsible human beings, let's just stay out their family business! You people that I am speaking of need to pay more attention to your own lives, than the lives of others! Some of you must not have anything better to do. MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, OR IT WILL BITE YOU IN THE NETHERLANDS!
Prospector: while I don't particularly support ad-hominem attacks on anyone - although 'Pavel' didn't ACTUALLY say "Bristol/Trig" - perhaps you should live up to your 'handle' and dig around.
There's a bit of a difference between an article in NYTimes and an innuendo in a blog comment. Oh, and 'Pursang' is probably right; FILING a suit and WINNING is VERY different too (check the archives...)
'Noticing' that Bristol was pregnant in HS? Well, why don't you check out the FACT that she was NOT AT HS for 4-5+ months - during said period, thus instigating rumor-mongers - due to "mono."
Yes, and Bristol/Trigg/Palin's could certainly pursue a case, which, based on procedures would need to PROVE the libel (not the otherway around, criminal "innocent 'til ...") probably requiring certainly Bristol's confinement and med record but also Sarah Palins' (the supposed contested ones). Unlikely to happen, so briefly Pavel and other trolls probably ARE 'safe.' (Unless moderated.)
Good enough, mrdbond. Fools like Pavel are probably safe. Your comments still do not relieve fabricators and rumor mongers of liability. The matter could be sued in civil court through which damages may still be sought. Even on a small, local, scale. The point being that "free speech" ain't necessarily free and it certainly doesn't excuse anyone from slandering their neighbor. Even if the targeted victim is a handicapped infant.
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.