She became a household name in the late 90s, after she accused the incumbent President of the United States, Bill Clinton, of having had an improper sexual relationship with her - now, nearly 20 years after the famous scandal, Monica Lewinsky's TED talk sees her speaking out about her experience with cyberbullying at the time.
In the late 90s, the Internet was still just growing far and far more popular, and the first millions of users were already around when it was time for Clinton's impeachment - and, as she describes in the recent Monica Lewinsky TED talk, the results were very hurtful.
According to The Washington Post, the new Monica Lewinsky TED talk offers an insightful perspective on a time in American politics the country would much prefer to forget, after the scandal produced by the impeachment, the blue dress and the now-iconic Clinton phrase "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," so often mocked.
Of course, as the article points out, the Monica Lewinsky TED talk reminds the world not only of that time in politics, but also of a far easier to forget reality: she was just in her 20s at the time, and nearly 20 years later, her life has had to go on in spite of all the mockery and pop culture icon status she has received since.
The Guardian reports that, in the Monica Lewinsky TED talk, the most famous of White House interns calls herself "patient zero" when it comes to cyberbullying, calling for a more compassionate Internet in the times of heavy cyberbullying, which has gotten much worse since the scandal.
"At 22, I fell in love with my boss. At 24, I learned what that cost," she said on her Vancouver talk, entitled "The Price of Shame," according to CBC. "Not a day goes by when I am not reminded of my mistake, and I regret that mistake entirely."
Other highlights of Monica Lewinsky's TED talks include her speaking out about how close she was to suicide at the time, though she was ultimately able to pull through.
