Monica Lewinsky breaks 10 years of silence on affair with President Clinton

(Image credit: Peter Kramer/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

After a decade of near-total silence, Monica Lewinsky has taken to the pages of Vanity Fair to discuss her affair with President Bill Clinton — and her subsequent efforts to move forward with her life. "It's time to burn the beret and bury the blue dress," writes Lewinsky in the magazine. "I, myself, deeply regret what happened between me and President Clinton. Let me say it again: I. Myself. Deeply. Regret. What. Happened."

In the excerpt from the article, she also denies rumors that the Clintons paid her for silence ("I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth") and talks about moving forward with her life ("I am determined to have a different ending to my story.") She also reaffirms that her relationship with President Clinton was strictly consensual:

Sure, my boss took advantage of me, but I will always remain firm on this point: it was a consensual relationship. Any 'abuse' came in the aftermath, when I was made a scapegoat in order to protect his powerful position. [...] The Clinton administration, the special prosecutor's minions, the political operatives on both sides of the aisle, and the media were able to brand me. And that brand stuck, in part because it was imbued with power. [Vanity Fair]

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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.