Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern who was at the centre of one of the most infamous political scandals, has opened up about what she thinks of her affair with former US President Bill Clinton. In a conversation with host Alex Cooper in the Call Her Daddy podcast, she shared about the role of power imbalance in her affair, which took place in the 1990s. Her remarks prompted varied responses, with some saying that the public owes Lewinsky an apology for putting her through the trial when she was just 22 years old.
“This is a power imbalance at the highest level,” Cooper wrote while sharing a snippet from the interview on Instagram. In the video, Cooper says, “You were 22 years old. He was 49. You were an intern. He was president of the United States. There is a clear power imbalance that they never focused on in the media when all this was coming out” She then asks, “How aware were you of this power imbalance?”
Lewinsky replies, “I don’t think that was something we talked about. You know, very much back then, in the same way that we didn’t have words like slut shaming and fat shaming.”
“That wasn’t something that we talked about a lot. And I think that it was really in the wake of Me Too 2.0 that we really started to look at power imbalances under the umbrella of abuse of power,” she continues.
Cooper then goes on to her next question and asks, “In 2014, you said the relationship was consensual. In 2018 you said you were just reevaluating how power dynamics impact consent. Now today, where do you stand?”
Lewinsky explains that she is “very clear” that it was not sexual assault and there’s a “level of consensuality” but because of the power dynamics she was in a position where she should never have been. She continues that it is the responsibility of the person with more power, be it because of their age, position, or financial situation.
What did social media say?
“She was 22?!?!!!!! We should have been much gentler to her,” posted an individual. Another added, “We owe her a huge apology.” A third posted, “On behalf of all Boomers, we are so sorry. Love, Millennials.” A fourth shared, “The entire world owes this woman a huge apology. We are so sorry, Monica. We failed you.” A fifth wrote, “Now that I’m a 40-year-old woman, thinking about how she went through all that at 22 is just mind-boggling.”
Though Lewinsky received overwhelming support from social media, a few shared opposing opinions. Just like this individual who posted, “Her prior affair was with a married man who she also worked for… as a babysitter. Kate Nason wrote a book about it (she was the wife). It went on for years. Once is an accident. Twice is a preference.” Another stated, “Omg, stop giving this woman a platform. We’re all over it. She’s got to be in her early 50s at this point….let it go.”
Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton affair:
At 21, Monica Lewinsky was just an intern working under President Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta. What followed next was a scandal that rocked the world. The relationship between Lewinsky and President Clinton came to light 20 years ago.
