Monica Lewinsky to produce Bill Clinton impeachment-focused American Crime Story series

Impeachment is a word that’s been thrown around ever since President Donald Trump took office, but now it’s coming back into the limelight for another reason.

Activist Monica Lewinsky is producing a series of American Crime Story that covers the impeachment proceedings of Bill Clinton in the 90s - a year after it was initially shelved by showrunners.

Lewinsky will be producing new FX series Impeachment: American Crime Story, including her affair with the president that led to Clinton’s impeachment.

The former White House intern will be portrayed by Booksmart’s Beanie Feldstein, who recently posed as her character in a new shoot, complete with big hair and a silky purple blouse.

US civil servant Linda Tripp (who was instrumental in bringing the Clinton-Lewinsky affair into the open) will be played by Sarah Paulson and Paula Jones, who sued Clinton for sexual harassment, will be played by Annaleigh Ashford. The script, which has been adapted from Jeffrey Toobin’s book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President, has been written by Sarah Burgess.

Oscar-nominated Clive Owen is playing Bill Clinton and Billy Eichner will portray Matt Drudge.

Producer Murphy optioned Toobin’s book in 2017 but told The Hollywood Reporter that he had shelved the Lewinsky-Clinton season of American Crime Story after considering how Lewinsky herself would feel about it.

But after seeing Lewinsky at a party, Murphy recounted to THR, “I told her, 'Nobody should tell your story but you, and it's kind of gross if they do. If you want to produce it with me, I would love that; but you should be the producer and you should make all the goddamn money.'"

Now that Lewinsky has signed onto the project, she revealed to Vanity Fair that she was initially “hesitant, and truthfully more than a little scared to sign on”. However, after meeting with Murphy to discuss the project in more detail, she explained, “I came to understand even more clearly how dedicated he is to giving a voice to the marginalized in all of his brilliant work.”

Lewinsky, who has become an anti-bullying advocate in recent years and spoken out about ‘humiliation culture’ at length, added, “People have been co-opting and telling my part in this story for decades. In fact, it wasn't until the past few years that I've been able to fully reclaim my narrative; almost 20 years later.”

“I'm so grateful for the growth we've made as a society that allows people like me who have been historically silenced to finally reintroduce my voice to the conversation,” she continued. “This isn't just a me problem. Powerful people, often men, take advantage of those subordinate to them in myriad ways all the time. Many people will see this as such a story and for that reason, this narrative is one that is, regretfully, evergreen.”

According to Vox, President John Landgraf of FX revealed the series would be told from “the point-of-view of the women swept up in the Ken Starr [Clinton] investigation”.

Former President Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998, following the revelation that he had had a sexual relationship with Lewinsky - then an unpaid 22-year-old White House intern. However, in 1999, the Senate acquitted Clinton of all impeachment charges and went on to serve out the rest of his term in office until 2001.