On the twentieth anniversary of the world learning about former President Bill Clinton’s affair with his White House intern, Monica Lewinsky is writing about the changing nature of trauma, the de-evolution of the media, and the hope she feels from the #MeToo movement for Vanity Fair. She writes about running into Ken Starr, the private investigator who was hired to investigate her and prosecute Clinton. She says that in 1998, he hustled her into a hotel room near the Pentagon and threatened her with 27 years in prison unless she cooperated. Lewinsky says that Starr had hounded and threatened her and her family. When she ran into him in Manhattan, Lewinsky told him, “Though I wish I had made different choices back then, I wish that you and your office had made different choices, too.” He responded, “I know. It was unfortunate.” Lewinsky writes that 20 years later, she reflects on the lessons learned. She said she learned that you cannot “run away from who you are or from how you’ve been shaped by your experiences. Instead, you must integrate your past and present.” She talks about being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from the ordeal of being publicly outed and ostracized. But she hopes that now, two decades later, society is at a point where we can “untangle the complexities and context” which can help lead towards systemic transformation.
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