Vanity Fair landed its Monica Lewinsky essay the old fashioned way

(Image credit: Vanity Fair)

last updated 8 January 2015

Former Second Lady Lynne Cheney and other Republicans have been raising some interesting theories about Vanity Fair's much-discussed essay by Monica Lewinsky. Cheney, from her perch at Fox News, suggested that Hillary Clinton (or her allies) ordered the magazine to run the piece on Lewinsky now so that the old sex scandal with her husband would be old news (again) by the 2016 presidential race. Others have suggested it could be a play for sympathy by Team Clinton.

The fact that we're still discussing the article, "Shame and Survival," after two days — before the Lewinsky issue even hits the stands later Thursday — is probably explanation enough for why Vanity Fair solicited the essay: It wants to sell magazines (or, failing that, at least the more elusive reward of "buzz"). And getting Lewinsky to write about the Clinton affair and her life since took a lot of time and effort, Vanity Fair editor in chief Graydon Carter tells The New York Times.

How much time? About 16 years. Vanity Fair started building a relationship with the most famous White House intern back in 1998, when it published a controversial photo spread of Lewinsky accompanied by some musings by Christopher Hitchens. Over the next few years, Lewinsky met Carter, Hitchens, and other staff members at Vanity Fair. She and David Friend, the magazine's editor of creative development, started talking about a profile or first-person essay in 2007. The essay started taking shape in earnest (and in secret) last year.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox