Monica Lewinsky has gone past the point of apologizing to former President Bill Clinton.
However, hours before "Impeachment: American Crime Story," a limited TV series about a sex scandal, she said on Tuesday, "He wants to apologize in the same way I've hurt people by my actions." I want to apologize." Clinton's presidency is almost over, which is set to premiere on FX.
Lewinsky, who co-produced the 10-episode third season of Ryan Murphy's anthology franchise, said it was challenging to see his life-changing scandal on screen.
In an exclusive interview on NBC's "Today" show, she said, "I'm terrified to see some of the worst moments in my life for people and a lot of behavior that I regret."
“I actually wore two hats on this project,” Lewinsky said, adding that she is “proud” of her work on the show, but as the star subject, she realizes many of the scenes — the real moments she lived — are "serious".
"I don't recommend watching your early 20s dramatize on TV, especially in this instance where the truth was really different from fiction," she said.
On January 17, 1998, 24-year-old Lewinsky was quickly and loudly thrown into the public eye. His colleague Linda Tripp secretly confessed to him having an affair with then-President Bill Clinton. That day, a drug report headline reading "Newsweek Kills Story on White House Interns" changed Lewinsky's life forever.
Humiliated and humiliated, Lewinsky mostly kept it low until 2015, when she gave a TED talk titled "The Price of Shame", partly explaining what the outcome of the scandal looked like for her. The thing went viral.
"I've been incredibly fortunate over the last six or seven years to be able to really reclaim my narrative," Lewinsky said Tuesday.
"Many people know about this story," she said. But when they see "American Crime Story" they may be "surprised" by some of the details.
"Even so I learned things," Lewinsky said.
Lewinsky gave notes on the script, but did not have veto power. She said that she made sure to include the parts with the goal of ensuring the series might not show her in the best light, while a dramatization had "a huge amount of emotional truth".
"I shouldn't get the pass," said Lewinsky. "The truth and context were really missing in early 1998."
He later added "humanity" to that list.
"I hope those are all the things that we brought to the show," Lewinsky said.
And what if such a scam happened in 2021? Will things really be that different?
Lewinsky called "the conversation about the power gap" and the reason social media allows more people to hear, "I could have had a little bit of support."
But "I don't know if it will be as different as people want it to be," she said.
Benny Feldstein played Lewinsky in "Impeachment: American Crime Story", while Sarah Paulson portrayed Tripp. Clive Owen plays Clinton.