Levi Johnston's nude Playgirl photo shoot

"Levi Johnston's 15 minutes haven't expired yet," said Robert Dominguez in the New York Daily News. The 19-year-old father of Sarah Palin's grandson has started working out in a gym six days a week because he's "buffing up" to pose nude for Playgirl. It's not yet clear whether there's a formal deal between the high school dropout and the online magazine, but Johnston's lawyer said the photo shoot is a "foregone conclusion."

No word yet on how much Playgirl is paying Levi Johnston for posing nude, said gossip website TMZ, although the word is that the shoot is happening sometime this month. "But the real question is what he's willing to bare." Apparently he's spending enough time in the gym to "make sure both sides look good," just in case.

"This is only the latest stunt for the young man who knocked up Palin’s teen daughter Bristol," said Chris Morran in OK! and he has already posed shirtless with his baby, Tripp, for GQ, escorted comedian Kathy Griffin to the Teen Choice Awards, and shot a TV commercial promoting pistachios (watch Johnston's pistachio ad). "Surely, displaying his bizness in the pages of Playgirl is just the next logical step to the big time."

Subscribe to The Week

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

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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

"The kid knows his limitations, I’ll say that for him," said Allahpundit in Hot Air. "The only reason anyone’s heard of him is because of something he did with his schwanz. Might as well show it off." The best that can be said about Johnston may be that he hasn't hurt the Palins as badly as his rival in the tabloid "scumbag" wars, Jon Gosselin, has hurt his family.

"It’s time to start liking folk like" Levi Johnston, said Australia's Brisbane Times. He "shot so spectacularly to fame" simply because he got "Sarah Palin’s unwedded 17-year-old daughter Bristol knocked up," and now he's cementing his status as a "bona fide" celebrity by becoming a "gay pin-up." He's even dished on the Palins' family life for Vanity Fair. If for nothing else, "the kid deserves to be adored for simply being the protagonist in such a glorious moment in schadenfreude."