Town & Country magazine has apologised to Monica Lewinsky, American activist, fashion designer, and former White House intern, after they disinvited her from its annual philanthropic summit because Bill Clinton was attending.
Curiously, the magazine chose to manage the situation they believed would be created by having Lewinsky and Clinton in the same room, because the former POTUS and the former intern had once had an affair…
Twenty years ago.
Since the scandal, Lewinsky has explained that her relationship with Clinton had been consensual, but acknowledged there was a fundamental power imbalance – something which the morality police completely ignored. That is why Lewinsky’s biggest issue lies with her treatment by the media, who have incessantly shamed and bullied her for the affair for two decades, making her name internationally synonymous with White House smut stories.
Conversely, Clinton remained in office to complete his term as President, and is one of the most respected names in politics; a clear message that the only person whom people felt was truly responsible for the affair was not the President of the United States, but 22-year-old Lewinsky.
This is why the current episode of slut-shaming by Town & Country has been 20 years in the making. But in a wonderful development, it’s not something that Lewinsky is prepared to suffer in silence anymore.
The magazine’s lack of judgement was revealed by Lewinsky herself, when she announced the incident on Twitter this week. She graciously declined to name the magazine, but commented that they had behaved with extremely bad manners, noting that “Emily Post would def not approve.”
Emily Post is an American author famous for writing about proper etiquette and good manners. Lewinsky tweeted again soon after, disclosing that the magazine in question had attempted to placate her after the rescinding of their invitation, by offering her exposure in the form of an article.
HuffPost later identified Town & Country as the offending magazine, forcing it to publicly apologise to Lewinsky a day later.
“We apologise to Ms. Lewinsky and regret the way the situation was handled,” the magazine said in a tweet on Thursday, declining to explain itself.
With the full force of the #MeToo movement behind her, which has empowered women to speak out against double-standards, sexual misconduct, and mistreatment by men, Lewinsky seized her chance to speak the truth. Twitter backed her, and the incident became an international one, with enormous pressure on Town & Country to take more responsibility for their actions. For example, esteemed Hollywood director Judd Apatow tweeted, “Town & Country should be ashamed of themselves”:
Clinton’s press secretary responded to the incident, explaining that he was unaware Lewinsky’s invitation was rescinded. Angel Ureña said he “gladly accepted” the invitation for the former-President to address the summit, and “neither he nor his staff knew anything” about Lewinsky’s invitation.
Hopefully Town & Country can now see clearly that their action was the highest insult to a woman who’s already spent twenty years paying the price for the affair entirely on her own; and that whilst Lewinsky, and the world, may have been somewhat complicit in that because of their (and especially her enforced) silence, this was no longer, and would never again be, the case.
Top Comments
Don't people realise that the magazine was just trying to avoid an awkward situation? Imagine if both went, and they ran into each other. They BOTH would be furious with the magazine. It's a lose-lose situation for the mag so I can understand that they thought this was the most reasonable and sensible solution for a sensitive issue.
Firstly, if the magazine wanted to avoid that situation, they shouldn't have invited both parties. Period.
Secondly, Lewinsky has nothing to feel awkward about. Indeed, I daresay the only person who might feel embarrassed about the situation would be Bill (and Hillary), if indeed they had any shred of decency about them.
It appears the magazine didn't realise they invited both parties until to late. And secondly, you must be joking? If some tramp initiated an affair with your husband/spouse/partner, are you truly going to tell us that in your opinion, said other woman has 'nothing to feel awkward about'? Seriously? Really?
Lewinsky really is an extraordinary woman. I cannot imagine the tenacity and strength it would have taken to get through the public castigation and scrutiny she copped - hats off to her.