Miss Monica Lewinsky
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By Chang Soon-hee
Dressed in a black cardigan and pants combo, the controversial and beautiful figure smiled as she walked out of the arrival gate at JFK International Airport. Wearing dark sunglasses, she walked through the terminal dragging a small suitcase and carrying a tote bag over her shoulder and she stepped out into the bright New York sun.
Lewinsky has recently plunged herself into the limelight again by speaking out about her dalliances with the former President of the United States. She was the star speaker at the Forbes in Philadelphia in the fall, where she picked over the explosive revelations of her 1998 affair with Bill Clinton, and cast herself as "Patient Zero” in an epidemic of cyber bullying.
Addressing the crowd from a podium, she said; "Sixteen years ago, fresh out of college. I fell in love with my boss. Overnight I went from being a private figure to a publicly humiliated one. My reputation was completely destroyed worldwide via the Internet. I lost my public self, or had it stolen. In a way, it was a form of identity theft. Of course, it was all done on the excruciatingly slow dial up. Yet around the world this story went ― a viral phenomenon that, you could argue, was the first moment of truly social media.”
Monica Lewinsky also wrote in Vanity Fair about her affair: “It’s time to burn the beret and bury the blue dress. I, myself, deeply regret what happened between me and President Clinton. Let me say it again: I. Myself. Deeply. Regret. What. Happened.”
After 10 years of virtual silence, she wrote that, “The buzz in some circles has been that the Clintons must have paid me off. Why else would I have refrained from speaking out? I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth.”
Lewinsky, 40, says it is time to stop tiptoeing around her past ― and other people’s futures. "I am determined to have a different ending to my story. I’ve decided, finally, to stick my head above the parapet so that I can take back my narrative and give a purpose to my past. What this will cost me, I will soon find out,” so Vanity Fair reports. ``The opposition politicians of President Clinton say he used an internship college girl as his prey. Yes, my boss lured me and I succumbed to his allurement, and it was an act based on mutual consent. Again, I know it was wrong and I regret it. I was too young. As a result, I’ve become…a naïve and fool girl, empty headed prostitute, flirt, cheater and the other woman, etc., etc.
"Every time, when news is on about the presidential election, paparazzi start chasing after me. I had chances to date male friends and the time together was pleasant, but I was always afraid that someone might steal pictures of us and sell them to gossip papers. Every day someone notices me.
"I’ve tried to disappear from this world. My mother was the only person who truly cared about me. Without my mother’s eternal love, I know I’d have killed myself. I thought of taking the easy way out many times. I’m old enough now, I think it’s time for me to stop living hiding from the past and the curious eyes of the people.”
Dear Miss Lewinsky: I’m glad to know that you finally decided to look forward to another day, a fresh morning and the different light that returns with the following day. I wish you good luck.
The writer is a grandmother in Seoul. Her email address is
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