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Monica Lewinsky: Early life, the Clinton affair and where she is now

Everything you need to know about Bill Clinton's "other woman"

Born July 23rd, 1973 in San Francisco, Monica Samille Lewinksy is an American activist, TV personality, fashion designer and former White House political intern.

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Monica Lewinsky is descended from German Jews who escaped the Nazi regime. She grew up in a wealthy family in Southern California in various locations from Los Angeles to Beverly Hills.

Monica studied psychology at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

After graduating in 1995, she got an unpaid summer internship at the White House through a family connection and moved to Washington D.C. to take up the role in July of the same year.

The young Lewinsky then moved to a paid position at the White House Office of Legislative Affairs in December 1995.

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Lewinsky came to prominence through her affair with US president Bill Clinton during her time at the White House between 1995 and 1996, which he famously referred to as an “inappropriate relationship”.

She was just 22-years-old when the affair began.

The controversy was dubbed the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal by the American media.

Monica Lewinsky
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The Bill Clinton Affair

In April 1996, high ranking White House officials transferred Lewinsky to a position at the Pentagon because of their suspicions about her relationship with President Clinton.

Months later, then 24-year-old Monica Lewinsky told her friend Linda Tripp that she had embarked on an extra-marital affair with President Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton was at the time, and remains to this day, married to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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She also revealed she was in possession of a royal blue Gap dress which was stained with semen from one occasion where she had given the President oral sex in February 1997.

Beginning in September 1997, Linda Tripp began secretly recording phone calls regarding Lewinksy’s affair with Clinton to collect as evidence.

Bill and Hillary
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Monica Lewinsky scandal
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In late November 1997, when Lewinsky confided to Tripp she was about to have the blue dress dry cleaned ahead of an event, her friend urged her to preserve the DNA evidence by remarking the dress made her look “really fat” so she shouldn’t wear it again.

In her official statement, Monica Lewinsky claimed to have engaged in nine sexual encounters inside the Oval Office with then-President Clinton between November 1995 and March 1997.

In December 1997, Monica left her government position at the Pentagon. One month later, she filed an affidavit denying any sexual liaisons with Clinton but Linda Tripp then submitted the tape recordings to the FBI which proved Lewinsky had lied under oath.

News of the scandal broke in January 1998 with President Clinton famously stating: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”

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In July 1998, Monica presented the still-intact semen stained dress to FBI investigators as proof of the affair. She signed an immunity agreement for her protection.

Despite previously denying any form of illicit interaction with the young Lewinsky, a blood sample taken from President Clinton one month later confirmed him to be the source of the semen “to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty”.

Bill Clinton
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Clinton defended his denials and claimed he had not committed perjury by saying the legal definition of sex did not include oral sex and acts had only been performed on him, not by him.

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The pair maintain they did not engage in penetrative intercourse.

The blue dress became an iconic item in popular culture and the affair led to celebrity and notoriety for the young Lewinsky.

Bill Clinton was impeached but not removed from office, and his reputation – by and large – weathered the storm and recovered.

Lewinsky was labelled myriad insults by the US media, including a “little tart” by the Wall Street Journal and a “portly pepperpot” by the New York Post.

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Monica Lewinsky
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Monica Lewinsky’s beret

In one of the only photographic images of Lewinsky and Clinton together, Monica is wearing a beret with a small silver bow on the side.

The French hat later became iconic and synonymous with both Lewinsky and the scandal as it was the most-used photo on television relating to the controversy.

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The beret was publicised as being a central facet of Monica’s trademark look.

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Life after the scandal: Where is Monica Lewinsky now?

Although Monica was constrained from speaking freely in public due to her immunity agreement, she worked with celebrity biographer Andrew Morton on his work Monica’s Story which included her side of the Clinton scandal.

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She was interviewed by Barbara Walters on ABC’s 20/20 programme in 1999 in a televised broadcast watched by 70 million Americans.

The same year, Lewinsky famously declined to sign an autograph in an airport saying: “I’m kind of known for something that’s not so great to be known for.”

Monica with Andrew Morton book
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Monica made a cameo appearance in two separate sketches on Saturday Night Live in May 1999 and in January 2000 she began appearing in TV commercials for the weight loss brand Jenny Craig.

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Reports at the time claimed she signed a $1 million USD endorsement deal but amidst public outcry, the ads stopped in February 2000.

Monica moved to New York City and became a regular on the Manhattan social scene. She appeared on MTV’s The Tom Green Show and later launched an ill fated handbag business.

She worked as a correspondent for Channel 5 UK’s travel show Monica’s Postcards where she reported on tourism in the US.

When the terms of her immunity deal expired, Monica appeared on the HBO special Monica in Black and White to tell her full version of the sex scandal.

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After finding life difficult in the US post-controversy, Monica moved to London to study social psychology at the London School of Economics and graduated with a Master of Science in 2006.

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She shunned the limelight for the next decade and has previously said she found huge trouble securing employment because of her notoriety.

Monica Lewinsky resurfaced in 2014 with an op-ed for Vanity Fair titled Shame and Survival where she discussed her struggle after the Clinton scandal.

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Shortly afterwards, VF announced she would become a regular contributor for their website.

monica for vanity fair party
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In July 2014, she was interviewed in a three-part special by National Geographic. It marked her first interview in ten years.

Continuing her comeback, Lewinsky took a public stand against cyberbullying, drawing from personal experience to speak at a Forbes 30 Under 30 summit about the Clinton scandal and how it impacted her life afterwards.

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She joined Twitter to build her social platform and currently boasts 458,000 followers.

monica vanity fair
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Monica delivered a Ted Talk in 2015 on the subject of internet abuse and also spoke at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity about the issue.

Her name once again made headlines when she wrote an opinion piece for Vanity Fair on the #MeToo movement in which she explained how the affair with Clinton affected her.

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In May 2018, Lewinsky was disinvited from an event hosted by Town & Country when Bill Clinton accepted an invitation.

Most recently, Monica was interviewed by John Oliver on HBO.

monica at forbes sumit
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Is Monica Lewinsky married?

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Lewinsky famously told People in 2015: “You can ask about my love life, but I keep my personal life private. I think people have known enough about my romantic life for a lifetime.”

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