Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky has come out with an emotional account of how the infamous 1998 Bill Clinton scandal still affects her life today.
In a candid conversation with Jameela Jamil on her podcast “Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky”, she described the trauma of losing control over her narrative nearly 30 years after her affair became a global media spectacle. She said that she continues to live “with a lot of fear” due to the public humiliation and scrutiny that followed after the scandal.
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Lewinsky's emotional recounting: “I still live in fear”
In her interview with actress Jameela Jamil, Lewinsky opened up about the difficulty of seeing her life dissected by the media at a time when she had no platform to defend herself.
While talking to Lewinsky, Jamil described her emotions with her own words and said, “There was no outlet for you to have any control over your own narrative back then." Jamil then asked Lewinsky's present scenario following years of unrelenting public scrutiny.
{{/usCountry}}While talking to Lewinsky, Jamil described her emotions with her own words and said, “There was no outlet for you to have any control over your own narrative back then." Jamil then asked Lewinsky's present scenario following years of unrelenting public scrutiny.
{{/usCountry}}Lewinsky acknowledged that there are still lingering scars from the past. “I still live in a lot of fear … it is making me emotional … that everything I’ve built in the last 11 years … will be taken away again.”
However, she recounted that she has become more at ease with herself. “I think that I shed skin of trauma for myself from the older days,” Lewinsky said.
She further added that she feels “more confident” now that she can be “more myself in the world and have it reflected back to me that that’s what’s been received.”
Lewinsky became a household name after her consensual affair with then-President Bill Clinton became public. The affair led to his impeachment proceedings.
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Recaliming her narrative
Since the affair scandal, Lewinsky has proceeded to reclaim her own narrative and has been vocal about combatting cyberbullying and online harassment.
She launched the "Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky" podcast series, where she is jumping right into the scandal that cost Bill Clinton the presidency and made her name a household name.
Lewinsky is taking advantage of the opportunity through her podcast to clarify her story, examine what she did wrong, and reinterpret her identity outside of the Oval Office scandal.