Washington - Monica Lewinsky, arguably the most infamous White House intern in modern history, is not a huge fan of foolishness. After re-entering the spotlight four years ago, the 44-year-old anti-bullying advocate has repeatedly used her platform to put bad actors on blast. Marco Rubio got some, and so did CNN spinoff network HLN. Now it's Town & Country magazine's turn.
On Wednesday, Lewinsky, who had been invited to the glossy magazine's annual philanthropic summit, tweeted that Town & Country, which expected celebrity guests such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bradley Cooper and Karlie Kloss, had rescinded Lewinsky's invitation. HuffPost was the first to report on the mess-up.
Lewinsky wrote, in part, "please don't invite me to an event (esp one about social change) and - then after i've accepted - uninvite me because bill clinton then decided to attend/was invited." Famed etiquette expert Emily Post, she continued, "would def not approve."
dear world:
please don't invite me to an event (esp one about social change) and --then after i've accepted-- uninvite me because bill clinton then decided to attend/was invited.
it's 2018.
emily post would def not approve.
✌🏼Me
— Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) May 9, 2018
Lewinsky added that the magazine's alleged consolation prize also wasn't enough, tweeting, "p.s. ... and definitely, please don't try to ameliorate the situation by insulting me with an offer of an article in your mag."
p.s. ...and definitely, please don't try to ameliorate the situation by insulting me with an offer of an article in your mag.
— Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) May 9, 2018
The public reproach is the latest example of Lewinsky's effort to reshape her scandal-scarred past in the era of #MeToo by highlighting the lopsided blame she received for her relationship with President Bill Clinton.
For its part, Town & Country issued a brief apology via Twitter early Thursday offering a mea culpa for "the way the situation was handled" but providing no further details. Who was invited first? Whose decision was it to diss Lewinsky? And also, what were they thinking? None of those questions have been (or probably will ever be) answered. The magazine has not responded to a request for comment.
We apologize to Ms. Lewinsky and regret the way the situation was handled.
— TOWN&COUNTRY (@TandCmag) May 10, 2018
The Clinton camp also took to Twitter (does no one pick up the phone anymore?) to offer its side of the story. Clinton's press secretary, Angel Ureña, wrote that "neither (Clinton) nor his staff knew anything about" Lewinsky's "invitation or it being rescinded." Basically they're saying to Lewinsky and the magazine, "Hey, that's between y'all." And also the 19 000 (and counting) users virtually high-five-ing Lewinsky with retweets.