Monica Lewinsky is a Vanity Fair contributing editor. In a candid interview, the novelist, essayist, and professor talks to Monica Lewinsky about finding a way to write about terrible things, doing double duty on therapy, and handling all forms of criticism. Monica Lewinsky wonders if these times demand a prominent mental health czar. What seemed like a social gaffe actually said a lot about our attitudes toward power—and who deserves it. On the 20th anniversary of the Starr investigation, which introduced her to the world, the author reflects on the changing nature of trauma, the de-evolution of the media, and the extraordinary hope now provided by the MeToo movement. In the last few months, a number of famous men have been wrestling with masculine stereotypes, giving way to something altogether different.
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An indisputable expert in the trials and tribulations of having your privacy invaded, Monica Lewinsky is speaking out about the photo hacking scandal that struck several Hollywood stars earlier this month, including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton. Lewinsky also admits to having a nude photo scare of her own, when she was tipped that several revealing photos of her had been stolen, but the pictures in question turned out to not be her. The year-old was also famously secretly audiotaped in by her former friend, Linda Tripp, who released the tapes to media outlets during the Bill Clinton sex scandal. Now Lewinsky is asking if we as a society have gone too far in our publication and publicizing of the private lives of famous people.
Roxane Gay on How to Write About Trauma
As a producer of Impeachment: American Crime Story , she is, more acutely than ever, weaving her pain into purpose. There's ownership, and then there's Monica Lewinsky ownership. Impeachment: American Crime Story , the new series from director and executive producer Ryan Murphy, details Lewinsky's mid-'90s affair with President Bill Clinton, her betrayal by confidante Linda Tripp, and the events leading up to Clinton's impeachment. For Lewinsky, it took strength to even authorize an onscreen portrayal, but in keeping with Murphy's promise that the show would be told from the perspective of the women involved, she also served as producer. In many ways she is the author, translator, and audience of her own experience. Her aim: to reduce her greatest trauma to a footnote in a much bigger story. Laura Brown: At the first screening of Impeachment , it struck everyone that you've come full circle. You were posing for pictures with the cast of a series about the greatest violation of your life. Monica Lewinsky: I'm incredibly grateful, [because] I've had opportunities over the years when people have come to me with something that is seemingly big for me, but really it's big for them. Then the next morning…what am I left with?
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