Monica Lewinsky Seemingly Recalls White House Scandal With Taylor Swift’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?’ Trend

The former White House intern-turned-activist joined in on the trend of using the lyrics referencing an "asylum" to seemingly make light of her 90s scandal.

By:
Reading Time: 2 minute
April 25, 2024 12:12PM EDT
monica lewisnky, taylor swift
View gallery
MONICA LEWINSKY BOOK SIGNING AT HARRODS.
LEWINSKY Monica Lewinsky, whose testimony could define the future course of the Clinton administration, arrives at U. S. Federal court Aug. 20,1998 in Washington, to testify before the federal grand jury looking into the alleged affair between her and President Clinton CLINTON LEWINSKY, WASHINGTON, USA
LEWINSKY GINSBURG Monica Lewinsky and her attorney William Ginsburg, right, leave a Washington restaurant Saturday night, . Lewinsky dined Saturday night in the dimly lit sanctuary of a pricey steakhouse three blocks north of the White House. The public outing was Lewinsky's first in Washington since her secret claims to an affair with President Clinton MONICA'S NIGHT OUT, WASHINGTON, USA
Image Credit: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic/Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood

Since Taylor Swift released The Tortured Poets Department, fans have turned one line in her song “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” into a meme. Social media has been full of people quoting the line “You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me,” and now, Monica Lewinsky has joined in on the trend. The activist, 50, appeared to make a reference to her scandalous affair with former President Bill Clinton, 77, during his presidency in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, April 24.

Like many people on social media, Lewinsky quoted Taylor’s lyric from the standout track from The Tortured Poets Department. She included a photo of the White House, but it’s unclear when exactly the photo was taken. The meme appears to be a reference to her infamous scandal.

Lewinsky has stated that she had nine sexual encounters with the former president between 1995 and 1997, when she was a White House intern during the Clinton Administration. News of the scandal broke in January 1998. While Clinton initially famously said, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky,” he later admitted to having a relationship with Lewinsky.

The scandal has inspired countless books, TV shows, documentaries, movies, and parodies, including the 2021 mini-series Impeachment: American Crime Story. Since the scandal, Lewinsky has become an activist, campaigning against cyberbullying, and she’s used her platform to share what her experience was during the media frenzy surrounding the Clinton scandal. In January 2023, Lewinsky reflected on the scandal for its 25th anniversary in an essay for Vanity Fair. 

Getty Images

The essay took the form of a list of things that she had learned and the ways that she’s grown in the quarter of a century since the scandal. “You can make the right decision and still have regret,” she wrote in part. “You can only try to integrate your previous selves with as much compassion as you can muster.”