Photo : AP

It is tempting to think that the relationship between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky two decades ago might be viewed differently in the context of the #MeToo discussion. Clinton’s freedom to carry on with life despite the workplace “affair” would appear to be a product of our culture’s more sexist past. Surely a powerful man cavorting with an employee many years his junior—and then throwing her under the bus—would be the one facing consequences for his actions today.


Or maybe not. Despite all the discussion of sex and power in recent months, it is Lewinsky who still lives in the shadow of the scandal. And on Wednesday, Lewinsky—who is living a second act as an anti-bullying advocate—alluded to yet another indignation with a pair of cryptic tweets:


Lewinsky was too polite to out the magazine in public. But it quickly became clear that it was Town & Country. Town & Country helpfully confirmed this by sharing a livestream of its “2018 Philanthropy Summit,” where Clinton introduced Parkland shooting survivor and gun control activist Emma Gonzalez.

Even the Clinton camp understands bad optics when it sees them. And within hours, spokesman Angel Urena addressed the brewing outrage in response to Lewinsky’s allegations.

Town & Country, meanwhile, waited a whole 13 more hours to put out a statement, vaguely tweeting at 6:51 a.m. Thursday that it regretted how the whole thing went down:


But sorry for what, exactly? I put the question to two Town & Country spokespeople and will update this post if they respond. Imagine thinking such a bait-and-switch was a good idea!