Monica Lewinsky reveals why she was worried about Sarah Paulson playing Linda Tripp in Impeachment

Monica Lewinsky has shared that she was concerned about LGBTQ+ icon Sarah Paulson playing controversial political figure Linda Tripp in Impeachment: American Crime Story.

The 2021 show, which Lewinsky produced, followed Tripp as a key figure in the infamous Bill Clinton-Lewinsky scandal that led to President Clinton’s impeachment. On her podcast, Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky, Lewinsky spoke with Paulson about her behind-the-scenes “panic.”

Lewinsky outlined that she was concerned that the scandal would be rewritten and that Tripp would be viewed positively. 

“I was so afraid that you would do such a good job that then people — it was this irrational like 5-year-old fear of, ‘Oh no, now everybody’s going to like [her],’” Lewinsky said.

“I remember you so generously said to me early on, you were so assuring of like, ‘We’re not giving her the Marcia Clark treatment.’” Paulson previously played Clark, O.J. Simpson’s prosecutor, in The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

Paulson said to Lewinsky: “I think any amount of humanity coming out into the world towards Linda would be uncomfortable for you, as well it should be, you know what I mean?

‘I am truly proud of the work’

“I think that it was a very difficult thing for you to sort of be sitting inside and trying to balance your producorial responsibilities or your desire to sort of want to make sure that certain truths were being told.”

Paulson also noted that Lewinsky’s worry was “a very natural fear.”

Tripp worked in the Pentagon during the Clinton administration. At the time, she got close to Lewinsky, who served as a White House intern. Tripp then secretly recorded her private conversations with Lewinsky and later released the tapes. 

Paulson admitted she was proud of bringing her life to the screen with frequent collaborator Ryan Murphy. She even considered getting an L tattoo to commemorate the role.

“It was one of those sorts of things that will forever be something I’m the most proud of in terms of my performance,” Paulson noted. “I don’t say that about, like, anything I’ve ever done.”

Paulson also added that she hasn’t watched the first season of American Crime Story, about O.J. Simpson.

“I know people responded very positively to it, but I haven’t watched it myself,” the actor said.

“But the Linda thing I did watch, and I really was like, ‘Wow, I am truly proud of the work I did on it,’” she continued. 

“The tattoo was not so much like ‘’I love Linda Tripp’, but more of this feeling of this experience was something I wanted to mark somehow in a kind of ceremonial way for myself — but I didn’t do it.”

Impeachment: American Crime Story is available to stream on Disney+.