More than two decades after the scandal that made her a global headline, Monica Lewinsky is reflecting on the intense scrutiny and public humiliation she endured when her relationship with then-President Bill Clinton became public.
In a recent interview, Lewinsky opened up about the emotional toll of the media frenzy and the lasting impact of having the controversy permanently tied to her name.
The activist also shared why she ultimately refused to change her name, despite years of pressure and questions about the decision.
Monica Lewinsky Opens Up About Media Scrutiny After Bill Clinton Affair Scandal
Lewinsky was just 22 and working as a White House intern when her relationship with then-President Bill Clinton became public in the late 1990s.
The revelation quickly exploded into an international scandal, turning her name into a symbol of the controversy and placing her at the center of relentless media attention.
Speaking during a recent appearance on “The Jamie Kern Lima Show,” Lewinsky recalled how the experience left her feeling drained and humiliated.
She recalled waking up in her apartment building and seeing newspapers lining the hallway with her name dominating the headlines, “for something that was awful and destructive to so many people” involved.
According to Lewinsky, watching herself become the focus of global ridicule was deeply painful, particularly because she had already struggled with confidence and self-esteem at the time.
The situation, she said, forced her to confront how harshly women can be judged in the public eye.
The Activist Says The Global Ridicule Felt Like A ‘Public Burning’
Lewinsky compared the backlash she faced to a modern form of public punishment.
While it wasn’t literal violence, Lewinsky said the humiliation felt like an emotional version of historic public condemnations, where individuals were shamed in front of society.
“You know, the same way that there were women tied to a post and burned at the stake and called a witch,” she said, per Fox News Digital. “It was not a physical burning, but a public burning, but an emotional burning.”
Another aspect that has always stood out to her is how the scandal became widely known as the “Lewinsky scandal,” rather than being named after the president involved.
She noted that the label also affected her and individuals with the same surname.
Monica Lewinsky Considered Changing Her Name
The emotional weight of the ordeal, Lewinsky said, sometimes felt unbearable. She recalled moments when the pressure and shame felt impossible to escape. “I just did not think I could take another breath,” she noted.
For years afterward, Lewinsky said people repeatedly asked why she didn’t simply change her name in order to distance herself from the scandal.
She admitted that the idea was discussed within her family and even crossed her mind while preparing job applications.
Ultimately, however, she decided against it. Part of the reason was practical. Lewinsky believed that changing her name would not have made much difference, since her identity was already widely known, and any legal change would likely have attracted even more media attention.
Why The Activist Refused To Change Her Name After The Bill Clinton Scandal Despite Years Of Pressure
The real motivation for Lewinsky to keep her name was personal.
The activist said she felt that she should not have to erase her identity because of the controversy, even though she regrets some of the choices she made in her youth.
“I regretted and felt a lot of shame about many choices I’d made in my life… but I wasn’t ashamed of who I was as a person,” Lewinsky stated.
She also highlighted what she sees as a gender double standard, pointing out that while she was frequently asked why she didn’t change her name, no one ever suggested that Clinton should do the same after the scandal.
Monica Lewinsky Reflects On ‘Gross Abuse Of Power’ In Affair With Bill Clinton Decades After Scandal
In a separate interview with The Times earlier this year, Lewinsky recalled how the intense public humiliation at the time left her feeling that life had become almost unbearable.
Although the fallout had a lasting impact on her life, she believes Clinton ultimately “escaped” long-term criticism. Lewinsky said the two have not spoken in nearly 30 years and that she cannot know what he experienced privately, but she feels he was able to move on more easily.
At the time of the relationship, Clinton was 49 while Lewinsky was 22. She has long maintained that the relationship was consensual, but she now views it through a different lens.
Looking back, Lewinsky described the situation as a “gross abuse of power.” She added, “That doesn’t mean I didn’t make mistakes, that I didn’t make wrong choices, that my behavior didn’t hurt other people. But at the heart of it was a gross abuse of power.”
Clinton was later impeached over the scandal, but was ultimately acquitted, allowing him to remain in office till the end of his second term in 2001. In the years that followed, Lewinsky made a few public appearances before largely stepping away from public life in the mid-2000s.
In recent years, however, she has begun reclaiming her story. Lewinsky later served as a producer on the FX series “Impeachment: American Crime Story,” which revisited the events and the media frenzy that surrounded the scandal.