Most people wish they could become household names overnight, but they don’t realize what a dangerous wish that really is. For example, Monica Lewinsky was once a humble White House intern whose affair with President Bill Clinton caused a major scandal. Sure, she was famous, but for all the wrong reasons, and the scandal continues to haunt her life to this day.
Of course, that scandal was decades ago, so we couldn’t help but ask ourselves the big questions about this famous face. Just what happened to Lewinsky after the initial scandal? Why didn’t we hear from her for a while, and what is she up to today?
If you’re also curious, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to discover everything you need to know about Monica Lewinsky, including what she’s up to now!
The original scandal of Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton
Because the original scandal was decades ago, you might need a refresher into the unfortunate incident that made Monica Lewinsky famous (or infamous) in the first place. In short, she became an unpaid White House intern in the summer of 1995, meeting President Bill Clinton when she was only 21 years old. She worked hard enough to land a paid job working for the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, and it was during this time that her affair with Clinton began.
After their affair ended, Lewinsky talked about it to her so-called friend, Linda Tripp. Sadly, Tripp began secretly recording those phone conversations, eventually sharing what she had gathered with investigator Kenneth Starr. Clinton famously denied the affair (“I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky”), but that didn’t stop the truth from spreading. And poor Lewinsky was caught in the middle, becoming something of a cultural punchline before being largely forgotten.
What did Lewinsky do after the scandal?
In the immediate aftermath of the scandal with Bill Clinton going public, Monica Lewinsky tried to do what many in her position would do…namely, make a profit from her sudden fame. She gave an interview with Barbara Walters that was watched by 70 million people and had her biographer help write up her side of things in the book titled Monica’s Story.
She had other ventures back then, including a line of handbags named The Real Monica Inc. Lewinsky also ended up hosting a show called Mr. Personality and appearing on Saturday Night Live. At one point, she was even a Jenny Craig spokesperson, and while some accused her of cashing in on her fame, Lewinsky maintained that her main goal was paying off her prodigious legal bills.