Levi's Family On Tyra: Bristol Palin Doesn't Like Us, We're Living A "Nightmare" (VIDEO)

MORE TYRA VIDEO HERE: Levi says he'll likely take Palin's family to court for custody of Tripp, addresses rumors of cheating and drug use.

Levi Johnston, whose wedding plans with teen mom Bristol Palin were recently broken off, appeared on The Tyra Show Monday afternoon with his sister Mercede and his mother Sherry. Both Levi's mother and sister said the experience has been hard on the family, especially the fact they have only been able to see Levi's baby Tripp once a month since his birth, because of ongoing feuds with Bristol Palin.

MERCEDE JOHNSTON: There's so much bad being said about my family and I think everyone deserves to know the truth, we are good people and definitely want to be in Tripp's life and it's really hard because it's complicated to be able to see Tripp.

Banks: To see him now? Why is it complicated?

Mercede Johnston: Mostly because Bristol and I don't see eye to eye. And that's mostly because I have a lot of girlfriends, a lot of friends that Levi's previously dated. So that's the main issue going on.

Sherry Johnston discussed her family's relationship with the Palins, and called the situation a "nightmare."

Sherry Johnston: You know it's not like we would go over for dinner or anything, but we started being mutual friends through hockey is when everyone started getting together and that's when Levi and Bristol, one of their first dates was on a hockey trip in Fairbanks and everything escalated from there. They started dating and we get the news about the baby and everything is good. And now it just turned to a nightmare.

The Johnstons told Banks that they were very restricted during the campaign as far as being able to talk to the media or answer any questions on their own.

Banks: Were you advised by the campaign to not say anything?

Mercede Johnston: Yeah. We were supposed to say that all questions need to be brought up by the McCain campaign ... And other than that, we had to say 'no comment.'

Banks: Was that hard, holding things in, when you wanted to explode and tell the truth?

Mercede: Especially for me.

Responding to a statement from Bristol Palin that Levi and the Johnston family were seeking to "cash in on the Palin name," Banks made it clear the family was not receiving payment for their appearance on the show.

Banks told viewers, "One thing that i want to make very clear to everybody is that the johnston family is not getting paid to be on The Tyra Show. There is no exchange of money. They came here on their free will and there are journalists that pay for interviews. I am not saying that's the worst thing in the world but what I am saying is that you all are not being paid and you are just here and I think it's so important and I think they deserve a round of applause because everybody is getting paid these days for interviews."

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Comments

[Willish]

02:03 PM on 04/11/2009

All the proud, geneticall­y superior Liberals who enjoy comparing these people to banjo-toti­ng rednecks, I sympathize with your annoyance at their constant media coverage. However your Liberal news outlets are responsibl­e for this very coverage. I guess the bashing is as even keeled and enjoyed by the left as much as it is by the right. This means we have rednecks and bluenecks. I need to find a Liberal political family to make fun of because of their questionab­le morals and backwoods behavior. Oh wait, I can't find any because they're not reported on by the media. But you betcha they exist.

[OneofOwnThoughts]

12:57 PM on 04/11/2009

Mercede- Levi- Palin now claims that he lived in their home 'over her dead body'.
I feel certain that Levi is telling the truth about having lived in the Palin home until the recent break up.
I am sure there are ways to prove that Levi was there! Perhaps you need to request cell phone tracking records that record which cell phone tower is used for each call. I imagine that if you have a cell phone- those calls were not in and out of the tower near your mom's house. There are probably other things that could prove your truth as well.
If Palin wants to be a low class woman- trying to take down a teen dad with her lies- assuming that everyone will believe her because she is governor..­.. that is disgusting­, inexcusabl­e and you need to defend you honor for your son's sake!!!

Palin's family was warned during her sister's custody battle not to be engaging in parental alienation things against the dad- it looks like she didn't learn from that Judge. Parental Alienation will seriously hurt your relationsh­ip with Tripp- and it needs to be stopped right away.
If you need to go on talk shows- like Tyra, Oprah or Dr. Phil in order to stand up for yourself- do it!!!

[Owltree]

02:22 PM on 04/08/2009

Cue the banjo music.....­.

[GhostNyc]

10:46 AM on 04/08/2009

When you play in the mud, don't expect to come out clean

[hollybork]

10:02 AM on 04/08/2009

Why don't they all just shut up and do their jobs or go to school or something?

[coco51]

06:20 PM on 04/07/2009

So that mangled mess Palin spout as Alaskan English language is solely hers!!! how embarrassi­ng. It's no wonder Bristol got not knocked up at 17, the poor kid could understand the use a condom conversati­on.

[rasmatas]

03:16 PM on 04/07/2009

Palin's friends think "the left" has been unfair...t­his sort of sensationa­lism is right out of KKKRoves' play book. Turnabout is fair play...

"mccain has a bi-racial child"
"anne richards is a lesbian"
"ross perot stole millions of dollars"
"jim richardson is a pedophile"

I am SICK of the right saying we are dwelling on false claims!!!

[DAdvocate123]

02:17 PM on 04/07/2009

There is no person on the Right bringing up Joe Biden's daughter, and they shouldn't. Why does the Left always do this?

[entropyisfun]

02:34 PM on 04/07/2009

"The left" forced Levi to go on TV to discuss his private relationsh­ips?

[Onfya]

03:00 PM on 04/07/2009

What the hell are you talking about??

[ak2]

01:51 PM on 04/07/2009

Did I miss the part where they discussed why Levi's mom was recently arrested? Did she elaborate on how much money she made selling drugs? Do you think that might be why she doesn't watch the baby a few days a week?

Mercedes - what a classic case of "high school caddiness"

Pahleeeeee­eeeeeeeees­e! Let's move on to something more interestin­g and less soap opera style

go write a book - make millions - every high school girl is sure to buy - Mercedes you could probably have autograph signings too!

[Ma Ratl]

12:23 PM on 04/07/2009

Here's hoping Mercede will tell the truth about Trig's (not Tripp's) parentage. She knows..cal­led him her "little brother" when he was born.

[livesimply]

11:52 AM on 04/07/2009

Jerry Springer stuff. Poor child.

[clamperken]

10:23 AM on 04/07/2009

Better be careful Levi. You don't want to make Sarah Palin angry. You wouldn't like her when she's angry. She has a penchant for vengence as experience­d by her ex-brother­-in-law and anyone else she percieves as a threat to her personal agenda. Keep your head down and watch out for those helicopter­s.

[Maggy Hawk]

12:08 PM on 04/07/2009

You got that right. The last guy to cross her (Chief Monaghan) is now a greeter at the Wasilla WalMart.

[Bobbi99]

01:01 PM on 04/07/2009

Yeah, well think Sarah was so very wrong, I hope the next time you need police assistance­, they send some dimwit who is drunk on the job, and like to taser your kids. Serves ya right.

[chevyval]

09:40 AM on 04/07/2009

Teenagers are not that interestin­g generally.

[HalupkiJoe]

05:05 AM on 04/07/2009

For a good laugh, check out the RSer's tearing Levi (and each other) apart.

It was the McCain campaign that literally put this family trainwreck on the national stage, but now that things have gone bad it's (naturally­) the fault of the Left and the Evil Media.

http://www­.redstate.­com/erick/­2009/04/06­/levi-john­son-jumps-­on-the-sar­ah-palin-g­ravy-train­/

[CARF]

12:15 PM on 04/07/2009

BUT, whose idea was it to bring 'ALL' of her family into it as well!!!!!!­!! Sounds to me like Levi got roped into all this mess, then dumped for even more attention getting purposes..­. Sarah is such a 'GREEDY' contol freak and if things don't go 'HER' way, 'WATCH OUT'.....

[Principaldad]

06:44 PM on 04/07/2009

Wow, just a couple of months ago it was "this is just an honest young man trying to get a job, finish school, and take care of his kid". Now they are actually saying he is something out of Deliveranc­e.

The thing is that I never saw the left demonize this kid the way the right is doing now. Most of the people on the left have felt bad for him.

Thanks for the link.

[peachykeen]

03:29 AM on 04/07/2009

When Tyra asked Levi what attracted him to Bristol, I was hoping he would tell the truth: "same thing that attracts me to those moose.....­.a great rack".