Two decades after the infamous White House affair, Monica Lewinsky revealed the one thing she would like to say if she met Hillary Clinton. The activist and former intern wrote a piece for Vanity Fair that says if she were to run into the former first lady, she would offer her another sincere apology. At the same time, she believes that Bill Clinton should want to apologize for his part in the scandal as well.
“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,” she wrote.
The 45-year-old activist is starring in a six-part miniseries called The Clinton Affair . The show looks at the scandal and subsequent 1998 impeachment. When asked why she wanted to participate in the documentary, she said that she wanted to tell her story in her own words and not let someone else – particularly a man – shape her story.
“Throughout history, women have been traduced and silenced. Now, it’s our time to tell our own stories in our own words,” she said.
“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.”
Lewinsky wrote the piece for Vanity Fair in part to explain her part in the six-hour A&E series. In the piece, she says that her first public words after the scandal broke were to apologize directly to Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.
She also noted that Bill Clinton has been speaking about the affair with reporters recently. When asked in June if he owed an apology to Lewinsky, he responded with a terse “no.”
Lewinsky says that she doesn’t feel it is important whether she is owed or deserving of a personal apology, but she believes that he should want to apologize.
“He would be a better man for it… and we, in turn, a better society,” she wrote.
The activist says that she also chose to participate in the documentary because part of moving on in life is being able to “excavate” our pasts.
