Monica Lewinsky is celebrating Tuesday as the 20th anniversary since she “survived the unimaginable” in the wake of her “inappropriate relationship” with Bill Clinton, inspiring a “survivor’s chain” on Twitter.
“For 20 years, i’ve marked 16 jan as the day i survived another year from 1998,” Lewinsky tweeted Tuesday. “On this 20th (!!!) anniversary, thinkin’ maybe we could try a survivor’s chain. whaddya think? (too corny?) RETWEET if you survived the unimaginable in your life.”
Jan. 16 marks the day Lewinsky was interrogated by deputies dispatched by Special Prosecutor Ken Starr at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C. The deputies were trying to coerce the then-24 year old into giving them information about her relationship with President Clinton, who was facing a lawsuit from Paula Jones for sexual harassment she claimed took place in the early 1990s.
In a 2014 essay for Vanity Fair, Lewinsky wrote about the experience of “mainly male interrogators” discouraging her “from contacting my attorney and threatened with 27 years in jail for filing an affidavit denying the affair with Clinton, among other alleged crimes.” She was offered immunity if she cooperated, but at the time refused.
Lewinsky’s social media call for action on Tuesday brought forth several inspiring stories of survival, not all about sexual harassment in the workplace.
One Twitter user recalled a “complicated surgery,” and several more responded to praise Lewinsky for her resilience.
Check out the reaction below.
https://twitter.com/smickable/status/953273488667635713
Hell yes. You are resilience personified.
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) January 16, 2018
My new book, “If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say,” is about a young woman who goes through a similar experience to you. Your survival inspired this story. You made me want to promote empathy for people whose lives are shattered in this way.
— Leila Sales (@LeilaSalesBooks) January 16, 2018
Your Twitter is the best thing to come out of the shit show that I remember as the 90s. Thank you!
— Dan Nguyen (@dancow) January 16, 2018
I admire you for your courage and for how you've turned the horrible experience into a campaign to stop bullying. PS I sent you a letter of support years ago, care of Sheila Nevins. Hope you got it. As kid who was bullied, I know the smallest bits of support help.
— Amy Alkon (@amyalkon) January 16, 2018
I love you Monica. Always thought you, Anita Hill, so many brave women treated poorly. Men wrote Eve ate the apple, just a thinly veiled attempt to marginalize women. I was never fooled. You are an inspiration. If the Bible was real, we know it’d be Adam who ate that apple.
— Jared Kotler (@Marcy_Kid) January 16, 2018
Who is going to make “I, Monica.” https://t.co/3KYrQVRlZt
— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) January 16, 2018