Lewinsky now works to stop cyberbullying and online harassment.
On January 16, 1998, a lunch date with her friend, Linda Tripp, changed the direction of Monica Lewinsky’s life. She had known Tripp for two years now, since the time they had been working at the Pentagon. Over several conversations, she had confided to Tripp about her affair with President Bill Clinton. About 20 hours of this conversation had been recorded by Tripp which then culminated into the Lewinsky scandal.
A photograph showing former White House intern Monica Lewinsky meeting President Bill Clinton at a White House function submitted as evidence in documents by the Starr investigation and released by the House Judiciary committee September 21, 1998. Source: Getty Images
When the topic of public shaming gets treaded upon, the Lewinsky scandal is still fresh in public memory. In a recent interview with The Guardian, she revealed, “I felt like every layer of my skin and my identity were ripped off of me in ’98 and ’99... It’s a skinning of sorts. You feel incredibly raw and frightened. But I also feel like the shame sticks to you like tar.”
In her interview with The Guardian, she says, “That people could read the transcripts was horrific enough, but a few weeks later the audio tapes were aired on TV. The public humiliation was excruciating. Life was almost unbearable.” Drudge Report, an online gossip site spread the news about the Lewinsky under the headline: “A White House intern carried on a sexual affair with the President of the United States!” just five days after the FBI sting. Bill Clinton called her a liar and denied having had any sexual relations with “that woman”. Lewinsky was forced to testify before a grand jury, and to this day laments that she’d “do anything to have my anonymity back.” The details of her nine sexual encounters were released to the world in a 3000-page Starr report in mortifying detail.
The scandal left her devastated. After graduating, she found out that nobody was willing to employ her despite her qualifications. She spent a decade in silence, speaking out only in 2014 with an article called “Shame and Survival” for Vanity Fair.
'Bill Clinton' and 'Monica Lewinsky' hold up signs for photographers during the West Hollywood Halloween Carnival along Santa Monica Boulevard on October 31, 2000 in Hollywood, CA. Source: Getty Images
“Destigmatising the shame around online harassment is the first step,” she says in the interview. “Well, the first step is recognising there’s a problem.”
Lewinsky is now an advocate against bullying and delivers talks at conferences on how to make the Internet more compassionate and empathetic. She is involved with an organisation like Bystander Revolution that helps out victims of bullying and harassment. In a TED talk that she delivered in Vancouver in 2015, she talked about how it was like to be the object of the first great internet shaming, before the age of social media.
In the talk, titled "The Price of Shame", she said, “Public humiliation as a blood sport has to stop... We need to return to a long-held value of compassion and empathy.”
While she seeks to move on, she's still terrified about speaking about the scandal. In the interview, she reveals what her "nightmare scenario” is. “The truth is I’m exhausted... So I’m worried I may misspeak, and that thing will become the headline and the cycle will start all over again.” You can read the entire interview here.
Watch Lewinsky's TED talk here:
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Monica Lewinsky, Bill Clinton, Linda Tripp, White House, United States (US), cyberbullying, Harassment")
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}