--- title: Bill Clinton Said He Won't Apologize to Monica Lewinsky description: Former President Bill Clinton said he hasn't apologized to Monica Lewinsky privately and defended his actions amid the era-defining scandal. canonical: https://time.com/5300017/bill-clinton-today-show-monica-lewinsky-me-too-movement/ author: Jennifer Calfas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-04T13:03:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:27:21.149Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bill Clinton Said He Won't Privately Apologize to Monica Lewinsky og:description: 'I apologized to everybody in the world' og:url: https://time.com/5300017/bill-clinton-today-show-monica-lewinsky-me-too-movement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt567dd81a4ad4aaf2/6988a6a7cf40a8b7afc44de4/gettyimages-605721264.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Former President Bill Clinton Campaigns For Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton In Vegas Area og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bill Clinton Said He Won't Privately Apologize to Monica Lewinsky twitter:description: 'I apologized to everybody in the world' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt567dd81a4ad4aaf2/6988a6a7cf40a8b7afc44de4/gettyimages-605721264.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'I Apologized to Everybody in the World.' Bill Clinton Said He Won't Privately Apologize to Monica Lewinsky ## Video: Bill Clinton Speaks Out on the MeToo Movement [Watch (HLS stream): Bill Clinton Speaks Out on the MeToo Movement](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/t2xqsg98.m3u8) (0:27)  _Published 2018-06-04. In an interview with NBC's "Today Show," Clinton bristled at questions over whether he should have resigned 20 years ago over his sexual relationship with the White House intern and whether the #MeToo movement has changed his perspective._ by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Jun 4, 2018 1:03 PM UTC  Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at a College of Southern Nevada campus on September 14, 2016 in North Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller—Getty Images Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at a College of Southern Nevada campus on September 14, 2016 in North Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller—Getty ImagesEthan Miller—Getty Images by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Jun 4, 2018 1:03 PM UTC Two decades later and now amid the #MeToo movement, former President Bill Clinton said he does not plan on apologizing privately to [Monica Lewinsky](http://time.com/5175341/monica-lewinsky-vanity-fair-essay/) and defended how he handled the controversy [in a heated interview that aired on NBC’s TODAY Show](https://www.today.com/news/president-bill-clinton-monica-lewinsky-metoo-whether-his-apology-was-t130189) Monday. “I apologized to everybody in the world,” Clinton said when asked if he apologized to Lewinsky over the scandal. “I have not talked to her,” he added. “I never talked to her. But I did say publicly on more than one occasion that I was sorry. That’s very different. The apology was public.” When asked if he felt he owed her an apology, Clinton said, “No, I do not.” > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1003597900562214912) While in office, Clinton had at first denied his affair with Lewinsky, then a fresh-out-of-college White House intern, and later admitted to it with an apology. The [era-defining scandal](http://time.com/5120561/bill-clinton-monica-lewinsky-timeline/) led to his impeachment trial, which resulted in his being acquitted. The controversy has resurfaced in recent years amid the presidential bid of President Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton, and Lewinsky’s emergence as an anti-bullying advocate, speaker and writer. Recently, as [The TODAY Show pointed out](https://www.today.com/news/president-bill-clinton-monica-lewinsky-metoo-whether-his-apology-was-t130189), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, [said that Clinton should have resigned](http://time.com/5029014/bill-clinton-should-have-resigned-after-monica-lewinsky-affair-democratic-senator-says/) after the affair. Clinton said he would not have changed how he handled the controversy and said he would not have resigned if the scandal were to have occurred in this new era. “I think I did the right thing,” he said. “I defended the Constitution.” “Nobody believes that I got out of that for free. I left the White House $16 million in debt,” he added later in the interview, then challenging the interviewer. “But you typically have ignored gaping facts in describing this.” Clinton’s comments come amid a national reckoning with sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. Lewinsky recently [wrote an essay published in _Vanity Fair_](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/monica-lewinsky-in-the-age-of-metoo) detailing power dynamics, the complexities of them and how she has interpreted her relationship with the former President in light of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. “Now, at 44, I’m beginning (_just beginning_) to consider the implications of the power differentials that were so vast between a President and a White House intern,” she wrote. “I’m beginning to entertain the notion that in such a circumstance the idea of consent might well be rendered moot.” In the years since the scandal, Lewinsky [has also detailed](http://time.com/5130921/monica-lewinsky-now/) how, in the national spotlight, she was shamed and bullied by members of the media and the public at large. She wrote in the _Vanity Fair_ piece that she has suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result. For his part, Clinton told The TODAY Show the #MeToo movement is “way overdue.” “I think that it doesn’t mean I agree with everything,” he added. “I still have some questions about some of the decisions which have been made.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5300017/bill-clinton-today-show-monica-lewinsky-me-too-movement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5300017/bill-clinton-today-show-monica-lewinsky-me-too-movement/"},"headline":"'I Apologized to Everybody in the World.' 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