Monica Lewinsky is weighing in on Cancel Culture, suggesting âweâve given this one term to all of these things.â
During an interview with the New York Times âSwayâ podcast on Monday, host Kara Swisher asked Lewinsky, âWhat do you think of âCancel Culture'â?
She replied, âI see the benefits and I see the detriments. And really, my top feeling about it is that â and this is how I feel about a lot of things, that they become a catchall phrase. We need to actually divide Cancel Culture up into what the pieces are.â
Lewinsky asked, âWhat are we talking about? Are we talking about a MeToo scenario, where someone has been a sexual predator, abused their power? Are we talking about a scenario where itâs a company? Or are we talking about something thatâs a racial issue? What are we talking about? Is it a misstep from somebody who actually rarely does anything like that? Is it something somebody said from a long time ago and theyâve evolved as a person?â
She went on to argue, âSo weâve given this one term to all of these things. And it doesnât work to have this same cycle of behavior for all those things.â
Swisher added, âYeah. Well, itâs been reduced. I call it âaccountability culture.'â
On whether she believes she was âcanceledâ or not following her affair with former President Bill Clinton, Lewinsky said, âIâm like, I donât know.â
The host responded, âYeah, because it can be a public form of shaming someoneâŠMaybe some people deserve shaming in some ways.â
Swisher argued everyone in Lewinskyâs âentire story has behaved badly, most especially Bill Clinton, by the way, who could be canceled, in my opinion, in many ways. I donât know if you think that, but I do.â
Lewinsky explained, âI think he had an opportunity as an elder statesman, when the conversation was changing, to be somebody who could have taken responsibility and done things in a different way, if he had evolved much.â
During an interview with âTodayâ last month, Lewinsky was asked whether she thinks the former president owes her an apology, as IJR reported.
âI donât need it. He should want to apologize in the same way that Iâd want to apologize any chance I get to people I hurt and my actions have hurt,â she said.
Lewinsky most recently served as a producer on FXâs Impeachment: American Crime Story, the show depicting her affair that started with Clinton in 1996.
