“I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”
A quote by former President Bill Clinton in 1998 that has been perpetuated in American politics for decades, the nature of this statement has been the subject of significant dissection in modern times. In fact, this announcement has since gone down as one of the most infamous and well-known phrases in national culture.
But, many years ago, this declaration was seen in a dramatically different context.
In 1995, a year blossoming with the contemporary craze of the World Wide Web, 22-year-old Monica Lewinsky eagerly entered her time at the Office of Legislative Affairs with high hopes. Securing herself with the most prestigious internship there was to offer, it was not long before she became closely acquainted with her boss: the President of the United States, Bill Clinton.
49-year-old Clinton was almost 25 years married at the time and over double Lewinsky’s age. Nevertheless, this did not inhibit him from carving out time in his very strenuous schedule for the young intern, as the two would often visit each other during work hours.
The true nature of these visits, however, was propelled into the limelight three years after their first encounters. In 1998, Lewinsky and Clinton were accused of partaking in inappropriate physical relations on nine separate occasions, seven of which Former First Lady Hillary Clinton was on the same premises as during the events. It was alleged that the two had been seeing each other in this indecorous manner from Nov. 1995 to March 1997.
With the aspect of impeachment lingering over his shoulder, Clinton vehemently denied these allegations. It was not until ample evidence was handed over—including DNA samples from a dress of Lewinsky’s and taped phone recordings containing her official confession to her involvement in such relations—that he was forced to rescind his former statement and admit to the extramarital affair, throwing Lewinsky under the rug and portraying her as a naive, idiotic girl.
Narrowly being acquitted of impeachment after lying under oath and somehow salvaging his marriage, Clinton left the predicament relatively unscathed in the long run. Although a besmirch of his political campaign, he was not forced to live the life of a recluse, nor was his reputation ruined forever.
The same could not be said for Lewinsky.
Although only 24 years old at the time the scandal hit the media, it was the job of American journalists to portray her as a promiscuous, depraved villain. Lewinsky’s vulnerable position in the matter made her one of the first targets of a devastating and horrific cyber-bullying campaign that would cause her decades of emotional trauma. Although the extent of cruelty aimed at her was swept under the rug, the treatment she received teemed with injustice, derogatory criticism, and sexism.
Lewinsky watched, horrified, as hours of private conversations were leaked on national television and immortalized online. She was isolated from the outside world for months for her own safety and told that any inability to comply with federal authorities could earn her over 27 years behind bars. The floodgates continued to open as story after story poured into the news, each one denigrating her name and showering her with callous insults. Engulfed by a wave of deep, abhorrent shame, Lewinsky served as the guinea pig case for a harrowing pursuit of online embarrassment and public condemnation that almost cost her her life.
Now, over two decades later, Lewinsky is working to reverse this societal norm of public harassment for the millions of others who have shared a similar experience to the 1998 debacle that plagued the way the world perceived her character.
She has since taken her infamous notoriety and transformed it into a successful public speaking career where she advocates against cyberbullying. Appearing on pervasive platforms to further her cause—such facets including a deeply personal and riveting TED Talk on the trials, tribulations, and lessons she gained from being scrutinized globally and subjected to unfathomable double standards—it was this Feb. when she appeared on Alex Cooper’s podcast, “Call Her Daddy,” to shed light on her own perspective of the situation.
Here, Lewinsky gave an in-depth account of the power imbalances that had acted as a catalyst to her affair with Clinton, noting that the difference in age, money, and power had put her at a considerable disadvantage in the eyes of a brainwashed nation and ultimately led to her shouldering such a crippling amount of guilt in comparison to the President. Recognizing consent, she acknowledged how the circumstance she had been placed in—a position of direct intimacy with Clinton—should have never been given the fuel to occur, as it vilified her against one of the most powerful men in the world.
With this power structure leaving Lewinsky with an intense burden, she continues to shine a light on the nature of online news and social media itself through the lens of a woman who was portrayed as the aggressor in one of the most severe scandals to ever exist. Surrounded by a world eager to paint her as a seductress rather than the 22-year-old impressionable intern—and, more importantly, human—she really was, her narrative was silenced for years.
While Clinton had the support of a nation behind him, she was dehumanized and bore the brunt of the situation, her entire existence condensed into one mistake.
Today, she serves as a model of transformation, accountability, and change.
Continuing her race to combat the systemic bullying that persists today, her fight for justice is far from over. Lewinsky is inspired by the cases of many like herself: humans who make mistakes and are incomparably ripped apart by them. Once gaslit into a reality of unwarranted blame and self-destruction, a specific, valuable quote of Lewinsky’s message should forever resound powerfully in the chambers of societal reform:
“I am not ashamed of who I am.”
