6 Rumors About Monica Lewinsky Amid Bill Clinton Scandal, Debunked

One of the biggest misconceptions about the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal is that it directly caused the impeachment of the 42nd president of the United States. In fact, the prosecutors made it clear they were not charging the then-president for having sexual relations with a White House intern. Likewise, Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel who brought the impeachment case in the first place, noted that it was centered around Clinton allegedly engaging in an "unlawful effort to thwart the judicial process," (via The Guardian). Starr elaborated, "The evidence suggests that the president repeatedly used the machinery and the powers of his office to conceal his relationship with Monica Lewinsky from the American people, from the judicial process in the Jones case, and from the grand jury." The popular Democratic politician was under heavy scrutiny for two articles of impeachment: Lying under oath and obstruction of justice. 

According to Starr's report, Clinton committed perjury twice, with one instance occurring while he discussed his relationship with Lewinsky in front of a grand jury. Notably, he only admitted to having "inappropriate intimate contact" with the then-intern instead of clearly stating that they had a sexual relationship (via ABC News). Meanwhile, an alleged instance of obstruction of justice concerned the then-president convincing Lewinsky to sign an affidavit denying that they had a sexual relationship. Ultimately, Clinton was impeached for lying before a grand jury and being involved in obstruction of justice. However, the Senate acquitted him in 1999. Since Lewinsky and Clinton's affair became a media circus, it's unsurprising that it gave rise to several other demonstrably untrue rumors.

While addressing the Monica Lewinsky affair allegations in a 1998 interview, Bill Clinton infamously said, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," (via YouTube). This statement was undoubtedly false, but they didn't exactly have a long-term sexual affair in the traditional sense. Although the relationship lasted for about 18 months, the pair only had 10 sexual encounters in total, none of which notably involved full intercourse. Moreover, eight of these encounters sporadically happened when she was employed at the White House. According to diary entries written by Hillary Clinton's friend, Diane Blair, the former first lady didn't view their relationship as a traditional sexual affair either. As Blair wrote, "HRC insists, no matter what people say, it was gross inappropriate behavior but it was consensual (was not a power relationship) and was not sex within any real meaning (standup, liedown, oral, etc.) of the term," (via ABC News). 

Meanwhile, Bill blamed his Lewinsky affair on the pressures of being president during an episode of the 2020 series "Hillary."  "Everybody has life's pressures and disappointments and terrors, fears or whatever, things I did to manage my anxieties for years," the former president argued while addressing the controversy, per the BBC. Despite popular belief, they were not traditionally dating at the time of their sexual encounters either. In her testimony, the former White House intern shared that they developed a bond over time and even exchanged gifts. However, the pair's personal interactions were mostly limited to the times they had sexual encounters, and they obviously never went on any real dates.

The Bill Clinton scandal cost Monica Lewinsky a staggering amount of money. During the February 2025 premiere episode of the "Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky" podcast, the activist shared that she was left with over $1 million in legal fees following the scandal. Although speculation from the time suggested that the former White House staffer was all set after receiving a hefty payout from the Clintons, or had even been secretly rehired, that was far from the reality. While speaking to the the New York Times in 2023, Lewinsky shared that she desperately wanted to return to normalcy after the media circus of her affair with Bill Clinton died down. So, she moved to London to get a master's degree in social psychology. "I wanted a job, I wanted a husband, I wanted kids," Lewinsky insisted. "I wanted to be treated normally." 

Although the mental health advocate tried her best, and applied for around 50 jobs, she was unable to secure any of them. In fact, the only opportunities she got at the time came from media outlets that wanted to delve deeper into the controversy. Although Lewinsky desperately needed the money to become financially independent from her parents and pay for her mounting mental health bills, she refused to take those gigs, likely because she wanted to break free from that painful part of her life. Another tragic detail about Lewinsky's life after the Clinton scandal is that she had to align herself with Jenny Craig's weight loss plan to earn money in 2000.

After news of Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton's affair came to light, tabloid gossip suggested that Hillary Clinton had confronted the White House intern about it in person. However, that wasn't the case because the two women never actually had a direct interaction. In a 2018 Vanity Fair op-ed, the mental health advocate recalled that one of the first things she did when she publicly addressed the scandal in an interview with Barbara Walters was to apologize to Hillary and Chelsea Clinton. Lewinsky added, "And if I were to see Hillary Clinton in person today, I know that I would summon up whatever force I needed to again acknowledge to her — sincerely — how very sorry I am." In contrast, the former secretary of state has taken a less empathetic stance on Lewinsky. 

As ABC News noted, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee described her as a "narcissistic loony toon." When Diane Sawyer questioned Hillary about whether she had used those harsh words to describe Lewinsky, she only replied that she did not wish to respond to the question. Then, during a 2018 appearance on "Good Morning America," Hillary firmly stated that she did not believe that Bill had abused his power with Lewinsky. When the interviewer pointed out the general belief that there was a glaring power imbalance in their romance since Lewinsky was a 20-something White House intern, Hillary stood her ground, arguing, "[She] was an adult." Safe to say that Hillary wouldn't be too happy about all the photos that prove Lewinsky is aging like fine wine.

Many people still believe to this day that Monica Lewinsky masterminded her affair with Bill Clinton to get ahead in her career. However, the Starr Report found no evidence suggesting the White House staffer had ulterior motives. Additionally, the moment that Lewinsky's crush on Clinton developed serves as further proof that the affair was purely coincidental. In the 2018 documentary "The Clinton Affair," she recalled, "I didn't get it until the first time I was really in his presence. I was struck in a way that he had this ability to hold everybody who was there." Lewinsky continued. "Everybody is sort of starry-eyed in his presence." 

The then-22-year-old intern naturally grew even more smitten when her crush began paying attention to her. Speaking to The Guardian in 2017, Lewinsky disclosed that after some mutual flirting, she "blurted out to him, 'I have a crush on you.'" In response, the then-49-year-old president invited the intern to his back office. According to the Washington Post, Lewinsky also acknowledged that she never thought she would fall for Clinton as hard as she did. 

As a result, she was completely shattered when the politician told her that he wished to end their relationship. Later, Lewinsky even wrote Clinton a letter to explain how she felt, writing, "Please do not do this to me. I feel disposable, used and insignificant." Lewinsky had similarly felt used at another point during their affair and asked him if their relationship was purely sexual. In response, the president simply reasoned that he "cherishes the time that he had with me."

Shockingly, some people believed that Monica Lewinsky was so cunning she actually preserved her infamous blue dress as a souvenir or a means to blackmail Bill Clinton at a later stage. According to the Starr Report, the then-White House employee only noticed the stains on the navy blue Gap dress when she took it out of her closet for another wear. In her testimony, Lewinsky confirmed that her extensive wardrobe meant she rarely cleaned her clothes after just one wear.  Additionally, she explained that she would typically only wash her clothes when she had to wear them again. 

While Lewinsky intended to get the blue dress dry-cleaned so she could wear it to a Thanksgiving party, her then-confidant Linda Tripp steered her against the idea by insisting that it wouldn't flatter her figure. Notably, Lewinsky had shown the dress to Tripp previously and Tripp was aware that the stain could be from the president. As ABC News reported, in tapes from Lewinsky and her then-friend's conversations, she urged her to preserve the dress. 

When she expressed skepticism at the idea, Tripp reassured her pal by saying, "I don't know, Monica. It's just this nagging, awful feeling I have in the back of my head. It could be your only insurance policy down the road." Ultimately, Lewinsky only gave the dress over to the Starr investigation when she was promised immunity for her testimony. And it proved to be a crucial piece of evidence as the stain led to a DNA match to Clinton.