Monica Lewinsky Says #MeToo Helped Her See the ‘Problematic’ Nature of Her Affair With Bill Clinton
Monica Lewinsky has added her voice to #MeToo, acknowledging the “problematic” nature of her affair with President Bill Clinton. In an essay for Vanity Fair, the former White House intern reflected on the scandal that altered the course of her young life and placed the events of 1998 in context of #MeToo and Time’s Up. While Lewinsky has always maintained that her relationship with Clinton was consensual, she noted the abuse of power both leading up to the affair as well as in its aftermath.
“I now see how problematic it was that the two of us even got to a place where there was a question of consent,” said Lewinsky. “Instead, the road that led there was littered with inappropriate abuse of authority, station, and privilege. (Full stop.)”
Lewinsky jokingly thanked Harvey Weinstein for changing the way history will view her own ordeal. She has been processing her trauma alone for 20 years, and finally feels a reckoning has come to include her. She thanked #MeToo and Time’s Up in earnest for making her feel less alone.
Read More:Jimmy Fallon Sings His Support for #MeToo in Earnest ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’ Cover — Watch
“I don’t believe I would have felt so isolated had it all happened today,” she wrote. “It’s very likely that my thinking would not necessarily be changing at this time had it not been for the #MeToo movement—not only because of the new lens it has provided but also because of how it has offered new avenues toward the safety that comes from solidarity.”
Read Lewinsky’s full essay here.
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