Monica Lewinsky, now an anti-bullying advocate 20 years after she endured worldwide ridicule when her affair with President Bill Clinton was revealed, will speak at the Westport Arts Center (WAC) next month about bullying, it was announced today.
Monica Lewinsky delivering a March 2015 TED talk, “The Price of Shame.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
Her appearance on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. coincides with the current WAC exhibit, “MORE Than Words,” which examines the topic of bullying.
VIP tickets for $200, including a reception, are on sale to WAC members today and will be available to the public beginning on Friday, an announcement said. It said the event is closed to the press.
Lewinsky, 43, will speak on “bullying, cyberbullying, resilience and reclaiming your narrative,” the announcement said.
Lewinsky, who became a household name as a 22-year-old White House intern at the heart of a political scandal that nearly toppled Clinton, told The Guardian in April she is still working to reclaim her identity. “The shame sticks to you like tar,” she said.
The WAC announcement described Lewinsky as a social activist, public speaker, contributing editor to Vanity Fair and ambassador to the Diana Award’s Anti-Bullying Program and BystanderRevolution.com.
In October 2014, she began to speak out about cyberbullying, and in a March 2015 TED talk, called for a more compassionate internet.
The talk, which has received almost 9 million views, described what it was like when she became the first person to lose a reputation on a global scale instantaneously via the internet.
“On a personal note, Monica is passionate about art – particularly that of contemporary artist Ed Ruscha – game for traveling to new places, loves to sing show tunes, frequents flea markets and doesn’t cook,” the WAC announcement said.
