As the high-profile politician's kid who became a teen mom and reality star, Bristol Palin
has attracted her fair share of time in the spotlight. Yet even with all those cameras
tracking her every move, Palin's public persona remains confusing, conflicted, and — at
times — hypocritical. We're here to set the record straight on this embattled young
woman.
A complicated pregnancy
When then-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin ran as the Republican nominee for Vice President
in 2008, she aligned herself with a party promoting abstinence as the responsible standard
of teen conduct. However, right in the middle of the Republican National Convention, news
got out that her then-17-year-old unwed daughter Bristol was five months pregnant with high
school sweetheart Levi Johnston. That certainly complicated her standing with the RNC faithful.
"Definitely something hard to go through and I wrote in my book too I kinda felt like I
had that scarlet letter attached to me like, ah.. You know, sleaze
or whatever."
Just months after baby Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston arrived, Bristol and Levi called
off their engagement. As time passed, the rosy picture of young love and family values
portrayed on the campaign trail morphed into a much darker story. In her 2011 memoir, Not
Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far, Bristol claimed her virginity was "stolen" by Levi
during a drunken camp-out with friends.
"I'm not accusing Levi of date rape or rape at all. But I am just looking back with the
adult eyes I have now and just thinking, 'That was a foolish decision.'"
The book also detailed Levi's alleged reaction to the baby news, claiming he said, quote,
"It better be a f**king boy." Those images are a 180-degree shift from the sunny family
storyline promoted during the campaign, that's for sure.
Planned for the unplanned
Levi's sister, Mercede "Sadie" Johnston, openly bashed the Palin family in Playboy in September
2016. Among her many allegations, Sadie claimed Bristol and Levi's baby news was no accident.
For his part, Levi backed up that version of events in his own book, Deer in the Headlights:
My Life in Sarah Palin's Crosshairs. In his memoir, he claimed Bristol wanted to get pregnant
because she was upset that her mom was pregnant.
For her part, Bristol has certainly downplayed his story.
"When Levi's book came out, it was like a joke. I was like, 'really?' You didn't graduate
high school how… How can you write a book?"
But he was allegedly allegedly encouraged to lead a double life by Bristol's family,
at least according to Levi's 2009 interview with Vanity Fair. After the teens broke the
baby news to Sarah, the governor supposedly hatched a plan to keep up appearances by keeping
Bristol's pregnancy a secret and later planning to adopt their child.
But those reported attempts to keep the truth at bay failed to pan out, and after Tripp's
birth in December 2008, Bristol took a vow to remain abstinent until marriage. She became
a family planning activist and earned hundreds of thousands of dollars for her work. Some
lauded her efforts, but others wondered if she was sending mixed messages about abstinence
versus safe sex.
"I just want to go out there and promote abstinence and just say 'This is the safest choice this
is the choice that's gonna prevent teen pregnancy and present… prevent a lot of heartache.'"
Those words would come back to bite her in 2015, when at age 24, an unwed Bristol announced
on her blog that she was once again pregnant. The father was former U.S. Marine Dakota Meyer,
and the two had a tumultuous relationship surrounding the birth of daughter Sailor Grace.
The couple finally wed in June 2016, however, and announced in December 2016 that Bristol
was expecting her third child.
Birthday party brawl
Over Labor Day weekend in 2016. Bristol and various family members reportedly engaged
in a huge brawl involving about 20 people at a birthday party in Anchorage, Alaska.
According to the Alaska Dispatch News, homeowner Korey Klingenmeyer was hosting a birthday
party for his son, twin brothers, and Bristol's dad. No charges were filed, but witnesses
claimed a "heavily intoxicated" Bristol punched Klingenmeyer repeatedly in the face.
In the police report, Bristol claimed she confronted a woman who'd pushed her sister,
but Klingenmeyer intervened, calling her names in the process. Bristol's dad and brother,
Track Palin, were also allegedly involved in the melee. If you think that's a bit out
of character for Bristol, well....
"You haven't me given one example like I've asked so if you're gonna call my mom a whore
in public I'd love to get one example."
Spitting shade
After enduring so much criticism and controversy because of her position as a famous politician's
daughter, you might think Bristol could empathize with others in her position. Think again.
In her memoir, Bristol did not paint a flattering picture of Meghan McCain, the daughter of
Arizona Senator John McCain, who ran as the Republican presidential nominee with Sarah
as his running mate in 2008. Writing about the first time she met Meghan, Bristol said
she felt "the sneaking suspicion that I might need to watch my back. Every time we saw Meghan,
she seemed to constantly be checking us out, comparing my family to hers, and complaining.
Oh, the complaining."
"There's a bunch of shotgun shells, just pew pew, going right into it."
Bristol's complaints about Meghan and her mom, Cindy McCain, went on and on in print
with anecdotes like, "I'd never seen people with so much Louis Vuitton luggage, so many
cell phones, and so many constant helpers to do hair and makeup."
Meghan didn't seem to mind the criticism, telling Playboy, "All that stuff she wrote
was a total lie... She's just young and confused and was thrust into all this. The media aren't
kind to her. But once someone signs up for Dancing With the Stars, it's hard to sympathize."
Yeah. Especially when she takes out all of her personal problems on her dancing partner
on the same show for all the world to see.
"You're just.. so weird it's just not even funny"
"What are you saying?"
"You're not there."
Yikes!
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