Video & Photos:Monica Lewinsky thanks US stars Beyonce, Eminem, Lil Wayne & Nicki Minaj In her first public talk ever......Condemns Internet Shaming.

 Monica Lewinsky held her first public speech ever at the Forbes’ Under 30 Summit in Philadelphia on Monday (Oct. 20). Stamping herself “Patient Zero, the first person to have their reputation completely destroyed worldwide by the Internet,” Bill Clinton’s ex-mistress also thanked Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Lil’ Wayne, Kid Cudi and Jeezy for their references to her in their lyrics

Using the personal story of her affair with then-President Bill Clinton and her subsequent shame as the prime example, she explained why she has chosen to devote her life to helping people who have had their reputations destroyed by the Internet. According to Lewinsky, 54% of Facebook users say they have been cyber-bullied, and 43% of all Internet-spurred suicides have occurred since the suicide four years ago of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers student who was secretly filmed kissing another man and then publicly humiliated.

Of her decision to dedicate her life to this cause, Lewinsky reminded the full, cavernous room of 1,000 young, diverse entrepreneurial types that they had been chosen to attend for their reputations. Reputation is an integral part of one’s personal and public identity, she said, calling what happened to her a form of identity theft: “I believe my story can help — help to do something to change the culture of humiliation we inhabit and that inhabits us.”

Watch the video after the cut.


Calling herself “Patient Zero, the first person to have their reputation completely destroyed worldwide by the Internet,” Lewinsky joked lightly about having been mentioned in rap lyrics by Beyonce, Eminem, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne “and all the rest,” and then recounted her story to the audience, many of whom may not have been old enough to be well-acquainted with the drama that made her name known worldwide.

“Sixteen years ago, fresh out of college, a 22-year-old intern in the White House, and more than averagely romantic, I fell in love with my boss,” she began, after her brief preamble. “It happens. But my boss was the President of the United States. That probably happens less often.”

Calling the two-year affair “my everything” and “my golden bubble,” she then recounted how it became “public with a vengeance” due to the Drudge Report, which was little known outside of Washington, D.C., at the time.

“I became a public figure, not just around the United States, but around the entire globe,” she said, describing how in those pre-Google days, this became the first news story in which the Internet usurped traditional news media. “It was all done on the excruciatingly slow dial-up,” she joked. (Indeed, I remember following the story on a 56k modem from Indonesia, where I was living at the time.)