“BOOKSMART” star Beanie Feldstein makes her debut as Monica Lewinsky in the first “Impeachment: American Crime Story” teaser, which also stars Clive Owen as former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Edie Falco as Clinton’s wife Hillary, Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp (one of Lewinsky’s closest confidantes who secretly recorded her). Lewinsky served as an intern in the office of White House chief of staff Leon Panetta starting in 1995 before moving into a paid position in the Office of Legislative Affairs. She stated that she had nine sexual encounters with Clinton over one and a half years, resulting in the first impeachment proceedings in over a century in the United States. During the “Assassination of Gianni Versace” season of “American Crime Story,” executive producer Nina Jacobson said the show explores what makes a crime “an American crime, a crime America is guilty of — not just the characters we’re exploring.” America’s guilt is clear in the Clinton impeachment scandal. Lewinsky became the butt of every joke for years and years. Now, she’s taking the reins of her story as an executive producer on “Impeachment.” The season will focus primarily on the perspectives of Lewinsky, Tripp and Paula Jones (Annaleigh Ashford), who sued Clinton for sexual harassment, leading to a broadening of the investigation into Clinton’s financial dealings pre-presidency. Billy Eichner will also play the Drudge Report founder Matt Drudge and Betty Gilpin will play the alt-conservative political pundit Ann Coulter. “People have been co-opting and telling my part in this story for decades,” said Lewinsky to Vanity Fair. “In fact, it wasn’t until the past few years that I’ve been able to fully reclaim my narrative, almost 20 years later. But 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. This isn’t just a problem about me. Powerful people, often men, take advantage of those subordinate to them in myriad ways all the time. Many people will see this as such a story and for that reason, this narrative is one that is, regretfully, evergreen.” “Impeachment: American Crime Story” was initially set to premiere before the 2016 presidential election, but it will premiere Sept. 7 on FX. Sarah Burgess writes the season, while Lewinsky and Jacobson executive-produce with Paulson, Ryan Murphy, Brad Simpson, Alexis Martin Woodall, Sarah Burgess, Brad Falchuk, Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski and Michael Uppendahl.(SD-Agencies)
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