Monica Lewinsky says apologies to Britney Spears are ‘long overdue’

Monica Lewinsky has said she’s glad that celebrities have apologised to Britney Spears —even if the apologies were “long overdue”.

The New York Times’ documentary Framing Britney Spears, released in February this year, sparked widespread debate how the Princess of Pop was treated by the media, her ex-boyfriends and fans.

It reignited the #FreeBritneySpears movement, supporters of which have become embroiled in a bitter conservatorship battle with father Jamie Spears since 2019.

Comedian Sarah Silverman, singer and Spears’ ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake, and celebrity blogger Perez Hilton are among the celebrities that have publicly apologised to the Oops I Did It Again hitmaker.

Responding to a question on the similarities between the way Lewinsky and Spears were publicly ridiculed for years, Lewinsky said: “I made a mistake. Britney didn’t. There were other young women this happened to, and there’s an enormous amount of collateral damage.”

Lewinsky, addressing the apologies and clarifications being issued to her and Spears alike, added, “It’s not surprising that this de-objectifying of women is happening alongside the #MeToo movement. They braid together in a way that makes sense.”

She, however, admitted she didn’t have the perspective earlier to recognise that other women were being vilified and shamed in mainstream media.

Director Ryan Murphy’s latest instalment of American Crime Story turns the lens on Lewinsky’s infamous affair with President Bill Clinton in the 90s, ultimately leading to his impeachment in 1998.

It stars Beanie Feldstein as Lewinsky, Sarah Paulson as Lewinsky’s former confidante Laura Tripp, and Clive Owen as the disgraced President.

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Lewinsky came on-board as producer of the series after Murphy promised her Impeachment would be told from the perspective of the women involved in the scandal.