Monica Lewinsky Won’t Change Her Last Name
Image by Getty Images
By Anne Cohen November 24, 2014
Getty Images
So, Monica Lewinsky won’t be changing her last name. (In case you were up last night wondering.)
In an interview with Porter Magazine focusing on Lewinsky’s return to public life after 16 years of silence, and her recent campaign against cyber bullying, the 41-year-old was adamant that she never considered changing her name.
“No one else in the investigation had to change their name. Why should I? I use aliases at times to protect my privacy, but I’m not ashamed of who I am.”
Despite the brave front, the woman who referred to herself as “Patient zero: the first person to have their reputation completely destroyed worldwide via the Internet,” admits that she’s had trouble maintaining a sense of privacy.
“For a long time I didn’t realize the implication of simple things, like looking for an apartment,” she said. “Now when I fill out a form I have to think, ‘Will somebody go to the press with my private information?’”
You be you, Monica. You be you.
Check out the full interview, plus a photo shoot by photographer Bjorn Iooss, in Porter Magazine on newsstands Friday.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
