Monica Lewinsky had to suffer the burn of the situation after her affair with Bill Clinton came to light. Lewinsky has been very vocal about the media storm that she had to face following the scandal being aired. The activist was not only shamed publicly for the scandal, but had to put up with body shaming for the years to come.
Lewinsky made headlines in every major publication after her scandal with former President Bill Clinton was publicized. Monica, who was only an intern and in her 20s when it happened, faced consequences that would shape her for the rest of her life.
Monica was called derogatory names while the media storm continued to persist. A PageSix article once referred to her as “Portly Pepperpot.” During her Forbes “30 under 30 Summit,” Monica spoke about how she developed unhealthy coping mechanisms following the unwanted attention.
In the 2014 speech, she noted how “shattered” she was at the name-calling. She went on to recall how she had gotten into a habit of eating M&Ms instead of Xanax to cope with all the anxiety she had at the time.
“Overnight, I went from being a completely private figure to a publicly humiliated one, worldwide,” she noted. Lewinsky pointed out how she became someone who lost her “personal reputation” worldwide “instantaneously” after the news broke out.
The Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal (1995–1997) is one of the most infamous sex-related scandals involving a U.S. president. Here’s a concise overview:What Happened: President Bill Clinton, then 49, had an 18-month sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky..#SayNoToWar pic.twitter.com/tTdowpx4pP
— UBUNTU ILMA MADIBA(Shall Truth Prevail 🎯) (@falma_taa_haqaa) July 19, 2025
Her struggle with her self-image did not end there. In a 2021 interview with People, Lewinsky shared how the fat-shaming continued to affect her. “I still don’t like having my photo taken professionally,” she admitted. Monica shared how even two decades later, she has a “mental tape” that holds “traumatic experiences of hearing people say awful things.”
She went on to recall how cartoons were being published that portrayed how she could’ve been in an “actual relationship” with Bill Clinton, only if she were more attractive. In 2019, she took to X(formerly known as Twitter) to express how much of a toll being fat-shamed and s**t-shamed had taken on her.
Monica Lewinsky Shares If She Was in Love With Bill Clinton Amid Affair pic.twitter.com/Jw94Ngmunb
— E! Online Asia (@eonlineasia) June 27, 2025
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Monica had revealed how the affair with the former President had turned her life “into a living hell.” The public backlash that followed for years to come started in 1998.
Lewinsky was an intern at the White House from 1995 to 1997. She admitted to developing a crush on the then-President Bill Clinton. What was a harmless crush soon turned into a full-blown affair that lasted for months. The news of the same hit every tabloid and major publication in 1998. The affair went on to change the trajectory of a young Monica Lewinsky’s life.
