Levi Johnston at Fleshbot awards: Sarah Palin 'smart' for not trashing me on OprahBY Michael Saulnydailynews.comLevi Johnston, the hunky baby daddy of Sarah Palin's grandson, called the former vice presidential nominee wise for not trash talking him in her soon-to-be aired interview with Oprah Winfrey.
"She's being smart," said Johnston, when a reporter told him last night that Palin didn't blast him in the interview she taped with Winfrey Wednesday afternoon. "She knows what I got on her. It's a smart move on her part."
Johnston described his relationship with Palin and her family is "not good."
He said he will be going to court to get better access to his son, Tripp.
On Twitter, Winfrey confirmed that she talked to Palin about Johnston and a host of other topics. "We talked about everything," she boasted.
Oprah's interview with Palin will air Monday to coincide with the launch of her book, "Going Rogue."
The 19-year-old Alaska hockey stud is in New York this week for a two-day photo shoot with Playgirl that begins Thursday.
Johnston said he isn't nervous about taking his clothes off.
"Not nervous," he insisted. "I have no reason to be."
"I'm just ready to get it over with," he added. "I'm ready as I'm ever going to get, man."
Johnston received an award Wednesday night from Fleshbot, a sex site, for crossing over from being a pop culture star to a sex star.
But Johnston said he doesn't consider Playgirl to be pornography. He said it's "art."
"We're going to do it tastefully," he said. "And I don't think I'm going to embarrass anybody."
Playgirl has reserved a photo studio, a gym and a hotel in the East Village area for the shoot.
"This wasn't a political statement," said Daniel Nardicio, a Playgirl spokesman. "There are not that many people who are attractive in politics. So I went for Levi because he happens to be hot."
Nardicio said he thinks Johnston may earn as high as $150,000 from the photo shoot.
That "isn't bad for a 19-year-old kid."
Since Playgirl announced Johnston would pose nude, the number of online subscriptions to the site has skyrocketed, Nardicio said.
Johnston said he's not letting the stress from his newfound celebrity get him down.
"I know how I am," he said. "I don't care what people have to say about me.
