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MONICA LEWINSKY WILL produce a major true crime series on the impeachment proceedings against former US president Bill Clinton which is set to air just weeks before the 2020 election.
The third season of the American Crime Story franchise will dramatise events that saw White House intern Lewinsky and two other women become “swept up … in the country’s first impeachment proceedings in over a century,” FX said in a statement.
It follows the network’s first two seasons of ACS, which dealt with the trial of OJ Simpson and the murder of Gianni Versace, respectively, and together earned a bevy of awards – and considerable controversy.
The announcement of season three prompted an immediate social media storm, with many users claiming a renewed focus on a sex scandal which nearly toppled a Democratic president would benefit incumbent Republican Donald Trump.
“People are going to be very interested in this around the presidential election and it is going to be a great show,” FX chief John Landgraf told a television critics’ gathering in Los Angeles, according to Deadline.
“I don’t believe it’s going to determine who the next president of the United States is going to be,” he added in response to the swift backlash.
Lewinsky said in a statement to Vanity Fair that she was initially “more than a little scared” to join the project, but ultimately decided to in order to “fully reclaim (her) narrative”.
“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 said, referring to the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.
“Powerful people, often men, take advantage of those subordinate to them in myriad ways all the time,” Lewinsky said, noting that “this narrative is one that is, regretfully, evergreen”.
The latest installment of the Ryan Murphy-produced franchise will star Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp, who blew the whistle on Lewinsky’s affair with Clinton.
Lewinsky will be played by Beanie Feldstein and Annaleigh Ashford will portray Paula Jones, who sued Clinton for sexual harassment.
It will premiere on 27 September next year. The US election is scheduled for 3 November.
The limited series will be based on Jeffrey Toobin’s book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President.
The second season of ACS, covering the 1997 murder of Versace, was dismissed as a “work of fiction” by his family.
The family said in a statement they had “neither authorised nor had any involvement whatsoever” in the series and reacted with particular fury to claims that Versace was HIV-positive.
The first two installments won a total of 16 Emmys. Production on season three starts in February.
The gift that keeps on giving
@5hbeZh0I:
Lewinsky is probably the most unexpected role model to emerge for many years. She is an absolute inspiration.
Vilified and ridiculed for years, she has emerged as a leading anti bullying and mental health campaigner, standing against online hate.
Follow her on Twitter; a compassionate, funny survivor who is refusing to let what happened 20 years ago as a 20 year client old dictate how she lives her life.
@Brinster: Survivor?? She s***d a president off and got famous… jaysus!
@Gareth Forde: your idea of fame is very skewed
@Brinster: AGREE
Hillary will be cancelling this mths Netflix subscription
A stain on her character
This story blows
@Zippy: come again
But I thought, he did not have sexual relations with that woman.
Turned out to be a soup stain in the end. Cockaleekie soup to be more precise.
His treatment of that woman is an indelible blight on what was considered by many to be a great tenure .
Meanwhile, the Democrats sponsoring a drama series about Stormy Daniels, ‘Love I Landed In It”.
Monica was just another exploitation for William. At that stage as the Hitch would say he had no one left to lie to.
She never claimed to be a victim and it was the media who went after Clinton for having an affair. Of course she was subjected to very bad treatment by both Bill and the media. Hope this works out for her.
@MiseBean: She is now claiming that she was a victim.
This will hard for Bill to swallow.
Will it be reviewed on gobblebox!!!
Was it a crime?
@Garry Coll: No because she enjoyed it. She kept the shirt
Look her up on Ted Talks. Brilliant speaker. Gives a great account of the incident.
Are we never going to hear the end of this damned affair?
Smell of cigars off her…
I bet it sucks.
At least it won’t be biased
Hatchet job on dear old Bill. Hillary will slap the head off her.
A weakness from a prez of amazing talent
Is she still dining out on that dress.
Boora Bog is yer oney man, great spot for a walk and a cuppa
have your say