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Levi Johnston appeared on CBS' Early Show Wednesday, where he explained his reasons for spilling unflattering information about the Palin family and said he was keeping some "huge" secrets.
Among other things, Johnston said Palin joked about her son Trig's Down Syndrome, calling him her "retarded baby."
"I was just in shock the first time I heard it," he said, when host Maggie Rodriguez expressed disbelief. He also said Bristol took care of the baby much more than her mother: "Sarah was never home."
Johnston also said that Todd and Sarah would fight in front of their kids.
He said he was going public because the Palins betrayed him and backstabbed him: "I really don't care anymore ... Now it's my turn ... I told a little bit of stuff, and you know, I'm just not going to take it anymore."
"If she's going to go out there and say things to me, about me, I'm going to leak some things on her. I mean that's just how it is," he said. He added, however, that there are some things he won't say that would really hurt Palin. "I'm not gonna go that far," he said.
In recent weeks Johnston has seized the media spotlight, after the announcement that the 19-year-old plans to pose nude in an upcoming issue of Playgirl magazine.
The Washington Post offers more of the CBS interview:
When asked whether he resents Palin, Johnston says, "Well now I've heard all the things she's said. You know, the Sarah Palin I knew before, it was -- it was her putting on a front, it was her being fake to me and now that everything's slowly coming out and I'm hearing more things, you know, and things she's said and done, you know, I see the real Palin," Levi responds, before stepping through the looking glass.
Part two of Rodriguez's interview airs on Thursday morning.
UPDATE: Palin has issued a statement responding to Levi's remarks. "We have purposefully ignored the mean spirited, malicious and untrue attacks on our family. We, like many, are appalled at the inflammatory statements being made or implied." Palin also went after CBS and Levi's intentions to strip for Playgirl: "CBS should be ashamed for continually providing a forum to propagate lies. Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies -- those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention."
