Bristol's broken engagement: Just a money-making scheme?

Sarah Palin's daughter and Levi Johnson aren't getting married after all — but they sure banked a lot of cash

Bristol and Levi: Off again.
(Image credit: Getty)

Bristol Palin's happy reunion with Levi Johnston, the father of her child, has soured just weeks after the couple announced their second engagement. Johnston had been accused of fathering a baby with another teenage girl, but Palin said the relationship broke down because of his craving for publicity. "He's just obsessed with the limelight and I got played," said Palin. Some commentators, however, suspect darker motives. What's the truth behind this on-again-off-again couple? (Watch an AP report about the couple's broken engagement)

It was all a publicity stunt: "I so wanted to believe" in this, says Jonathan Capeheart at The Washington Post. But this news proves the whole re-engagement was a "made-for-magazines extravaganza" designed to give them "another spin on the hamster wheel of D-List fame." Does no one believe in romance anymore?

"'I got played' by Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

It's Johnston's fault: What an "idiot" Levi Johnston is, says Da Tech Guy at his blog. After finally persuading Bristol to take him back so he could have a "proper relationship with [his] child," he has blown it again. Second chances are a rare thing. "There is nothing so frustrating than to see someone waste theirs."

"If Levi Johnston was my son..."

It was a money-making scheme: This "Wasilla version of 'The Hills'" just goes on and on, says AllahPundit at Hot Air. But look at the numbers: The re-engagement announcement in US Magazine netted the couple a reported $100,000, and now Palin has run to People to give them a "break up exclusive" for, presumably, another large fee. "I have the strangest feeling that we've been played here."

"Bristol Palin: It's over between me and Levi"