Monica Lewinsky's Post-Bill Glow Up Reaches Far Beyond Looks

It's been more than 25 years since a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky met then-President Bill Clinton, accepted a job at the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, and subsequently began an affair with Clinton. She has undoubtedly transformed her physical appearance in the decades since the details of her affair became public, causing her to become one of the most scrutinized and bullied women in the U.S. when the internet was in its infancy. She attempted a career in the public eye after she was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony and evidence (aka an infamous blue dress). But after failing to achieve traditional business success, she moved to England to get a degree in 2005. Upon her return to the U.S. Lewinsky leveled up her career in a big way. 

By the time Lewinsky decided to try to live a public life again, the cultural conversation around shame and sexual relationships had shifted. She took the opportunity to reclaim her story, openly talking about shame and bullying, first in a Vanity Fair essay and then in a 2015 TED Talk. She was a consultant on Ryan Murphy's 2016 series about her affair, "American Crime Story: Impeachment," which covered her affair with Clinton, the legal proceedings, and the public's reaction. In 2021, she announced her production company, Alt Ending Productions, saying in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter) that she wanted to start conversations and explore humanity from unique perspectives in her projects. The company's first credit is "The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox." In 2025, she also started a podcast called "Reclaiming." Guests include KESHA, Julia Fox, John Oliver, and Cindy Crawford.

Lewinsky's journey to success was a long and painstaking one. After the fallout from the Bill Clinton affair, she was desperate to start over in public. She became a spokesperson for the weight loss company Jenny Craig and even tried to sell handbags she made via a line she called The Real Monica Inc. Her initial business attempts failed, however, and when she returned to the U.S. after attending school in the U.K., she had a message to share that was more important than a rebrand. In her 2015 Vanity Fair essay, she explained that she was moved to do more advocacy after she heard the story of Tyler Clementi, who died by suicide after being secretly recorded kissing another man on a webcam. Lewinsky acknowledged that the circumstances that led to their respective shame were different, and she never attempted suicide, she considered it during the legal proceedings and several times afterward.

"In the wake of Tyler's tragedy, my own suffering took on a different meaning. Perhaps by sharing my story, I reasoned, I might be able to help others in their darkest moments of humiliation," she wrote. "The question became: How do I find and give a purpose to my past?" She began by speaking out about cyberbullying and social media harassment, becoming involved in MacKenzie Scott's anti-bullying website Bystander Revolution, and executive producing the HBO Max documentary "15 Minutes of Shame," in which people who experienced public shame told their stories in their own words. It's clear that through her own tragic past, she found her true calling.