The 45-year-old activist is opening up like never before about her affair with former President Bill Clinton.
Monica Lewinsky is opening up like never before about her affair with former president Bill Clinton.
The 45-year-old activist appears in A&E Network’s six-part series, The Clinton Affair, which looks back at when Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998 for perjury and obstruction of justice after admitting to a sex scandal with Lewinsky, but was acquitted by the Senate in 1999. He previously denied the affair, illegally lying under oath and trying to cover up his relationship with the then 22-year-old Lewinsky. He was acquitted by the Senate in 1999.
In the docu-series, Lewinsky recalls one of her first encounters with the then-president. "As I passed [communications director] George Stephanopoulos’ office, I kind of looked into the open doorway, and Bill happened to be standing there, and he motioned me in," she recollects. "I don’t think my heart had ever beat as fast."
Lewinsky adds, "Unbeknownst to me, I was on the precipice of the rabbit hole.”
As for why she decided to participate in the TV special, Lewinsky tells Vanity Fair, "Because I could."
"Throughout history, women have been traduced and silenced. Now, it’s our time to tell our own stories in our own words," she further explains. "...I may not like everything that has been put in the series or left out, but I like that the perspective is being shaped by women. Yes, the process of filming has been exceedingly painful. But I hope that by participating, by telling the truth about a time in my life -- a time in our history -- I can help ensure that what happened to me never happens to another young person in our country again."
Two decades after the scandal, Lewinsky says she still would like to apologize to Clinton's wife, Hillary, if the opportunity were to ever present itself. "My first public words after the scandal -- uttered in an interview with Barbara Walters on March 3, 1999 -- were an apology directly to Chelsea and Mrs. Clinton," she points out. "And if I were to see Hillary Clinton in person today, I know that I would summon up whatever force I needed to again acknowledge to her -- sincerely -- how very sorry I am."
Back in June, Clinton said during a Today show interview that he's never privately apologized to Lewinsky and doesn't feel he owes her one.
"So, what feels more important to me than whether I am owed or deserving of a personal apology is my belief that Bill Clinton should want to apologize," Lewinsky says in response. "I’m less disappointed by him, and more disappointed for him. He would be a better man for it . . . and we, in turn, a better society."
The Clinton Affair premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on A&E.
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