Activist and TV personality Monica Lewinsky urged pundits and political analysts to stop using her name in the frequent comparisons between former President Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment and that of Donald Trump's today.
Lewinsky offered up several alternative phrases to reference to Clinton's scandal involving the then-22-year-old White House intern, which led to the president's impeachment in 1998. Clinton would later admit to having an "inappropriate relationship" with Lewinsky, but not after repeated denials and a news media frenzy which Lewinsky said caused her to "lose so much of my life for over a decade."
On Sunday morning, she tweeted a "gentle reminder" about how to not blame the "least powerful" and youngest woman involved in the entire 1998 impeachment saga.
"A gentle reminder for ways other than using my name re 1998. let's not frame it by the woman + youngest, least powerful person involved: The Starr Investigation The 1998 Impeachment The Scandal of 1998 The Clinton Impeachment That Crazy, F***ed Up 1998," Lewinsky tweeted.
"The point of this is not did i do something wrong— we all agree on that. the issue is to frame + pin this on me (by continuing to use my last name) is v much blaming only the woman + given the vast power differentials of all involved — i was also least powerful," she also wrote.
Her commentary comes as a new Hulu documentary series, Hillary, shows both the Clintons speaking in their most candid and detailed account yet about the late '90s scandal. The series of four, hour-long episodes premiered Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival and will debut on streaming service in early March. The documentary stretches from Bill Clinton's impeachment up through Hillary Clinton's own mistakes during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The Clintons, who for years dismissed or used their power to attack Lewinsky's character in the wake of the scandal, appear to offer remorse in the Hulu series: "I feel terrible about the fact that Monica Lewinsky's life was defined by it, unfairly I think," Bill Clinton says. "Over the years I watched her trying to get a normal life back again. But you gotta decide how to define normal."
Several journalists and media figures during the late 1990s weighed in on Lewinsky's request Sunday.
"As a White House reporter at the time, and an editor/columnist for years afterward, I'd like to apologize for oft putting your name to the Clinton scandal," replied Ron Fournier, prompting a message of thanks from Lewinsky.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Benjamin Fearnow is a reporter based out of Newsweek's New York City offices. He was previously at CBS and Mediaite ... Read more
