THE REINVENTION OF MONICA
THE INTERN TURNED ACTIVIST AT THE HEART OF THE ’ S SCANDAL IS FINALLY READY TO TELL HER SIDE OF THE STORY
It’s been 23 years since Monica Lewinksy rose to infamy after her affair with then-US President Bill Clinton was made public. After transforming herself from an internet joke to a respected activist, the former White House intern is finally ready to tell her side of the story about the scandal that almost brought down the most powerful man in the world.
Lewinsky, 48, has signed on as a producer of the third instalment of Ryan Murphy’s series : Impeachment: American Crime Story, which will focus on the political scandal that came to light in 1998 and the subsequent trial. The series is told from the perspective of the women who were unwittingly thrust into the public spotlight and how they coped with it amid “a changing media landscape”.
“I’m not proud of the choices I made back then, but I am proud of the show,” Lewinsky told The Hollywood Reporter of Impeachment, which premiers on Binge on September 8. “And if I liked everything that was in the show, then everybody didn’t do their job,” she added.
Lewinsky was just 22 years old and fresh out of college when she became involved with Clinton, who was 27 years her senior, while working as an unpaid intern at the White House in 1995. She had nine sexual encounters with the president, now 75, over two years, which led to his impeachment when he lied about their relationship.
The scandal came to light just as the internet was taking off and created a perfect political and entertainment culture storm that captivated the public. Lewinsky soon found herself the most talked about person in the world and was a running joke on talk shows and in gossip columns.
“You go to bed one night a private person, and the next day you’re a public human being and the whole world hates you,” she explained of her sudden notoriety.
While Lewinksy didn’t seek out her fame, she tried to use it when the scandal dashed any hopes she had of a career in politics. In the years following, she tried her hand at everything, from designing a handbag line to being a spokesperson for weight loss company Jenny Craig. “Just because I wasn’t on the news every night for 20 years in the same way that I was in 1998, doesn’t mean that this story ended,” she explained of the aftermath. “Ten years on, I still couldn’t get a job. I couldn’t support myself,” she added.
It was only when she decided to take some time out of the spotlight that Lewinksy found her true calling. After going back to study a master’s degree in psychology, she wrote an essay for Vanity Fair magazine titled Shame and Survival.
“I am determined to have a different ending to my story,” she penned in May 2014. “I’ve decided, finally, to stick my head above the parapet so that I can take back my narrative and give a purpose to my past.”
Months later, Lewinksy took a public stand against cyberbullying, dubbing herself the “patient zero” of online harassment and helping other victims of the shame game. Since then, the social activist has continued to use her platform to speak out for a “more compassionate internet”.
“I’m not proud of the choices I made” LEWINKSY
Reliving the lowest moments in her life while making the series was a painful experience for Lewinksy, who had a therapist available over Zoom as she worked on her show notes “because it’s really hard”.
But Lewinsky was willing to dredge up the past after two decades for a noble reason. “A big goal for me is that this never happens to another young person again,” she said.