Monica Lewinsky, whose affair with Bill Clinton has been the subject of American Crime Story: Impeachment, has recalled detailed events that made it into the show.
The White House intern-turned-activist opened up about her life story while moderating a cast Q&A at the Director’s Guild Of America in Hollywood, as reported by Entertainment Weekly.
While onstage, Lewinsky told audiences that the former president did wear a tie that she had gifted him to his Grand Jury testimony, as is shown in the limited series. She also revealed that Clinton’s advisor and executive Vernon Jordan once patted her rear, as is depicted in the show.
Additionally, Lewinsky spoke about when she was asked to appear in adult magazines after the scandal.
“I realised at some point after 1998, all of us were offered millions to pose for Penthouse and Playboy,” she said.
“Because I came from an upper-middle-class family, I was able to say no. It was an eye-opening moment for me. Sometimes, there are sex-positive decisions that are made. That’s not this. Someone was worried about paying the rent, so this was their only option.”
Meanwhile, Beanie Feldstein, who plays Lewinsky in the show, has opened up about filming an especially intense episode.
The sixth instalment of the limited series, called Man Handled, focused on the detainment and interrogation of Lewinsky at the hands of the FBI.
“As someone who has experienced difficult, shocking, traumatic things in my own life, I couldn’t imagine if someone was playing that day of my life. It’s sort of unbearable to think about,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.