By Helene - 05 August 2021
The first season of FX's American Crime Story will focus on the O.J. Simpson case, the second on the assassination of Gianni Versace and the third on president Bill Clinton's sex scandal with Monica Lewinsky. Lewinsky's back and Clinton's long view were revealed today in a preview for the third season of the show, which will premiere on Sept. 7.
Clive Owen will play Clinton this season. "Lady Bird" and "High School" star Beanie Feldstein plays Lewinsky, who is also the sister of comedian Jonah Hill. FX veteran Sarah Paulson plays source Linda Trip, and Annaleigh Ashford plays Paula Jones.
The show is based on Jeffrey Tobin's book the Great Conspiracy: The Truth behind a Sex Scandal that Nearly Brought down the President. Lewinsky herself served as producer to ensure the authenticity of the show.
Some background: The Clinton-Lewinsky sex scandal
The Lewinsky scandal, also known as the Zipper gate scandal, was the 1998 sex scandal between 42nd US President Bill Clinton and Female White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The incident led to a series of investigations and Clinton's impeachment.
In 1996, Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky met, flirted and developed a romantic relationship. The relationship between the two men, which lasted for five months, was not known to the outside world, but was an open secret among the officers around the president. In April 1997, Ms. Lewinsky's bosses, concerned that she was too close to the president, transferred her to the Defense Department.
At the Defense Department, Lewinsky met Linda Tripp, with whom she became a close friend. Lewinsky told Trip about her affair with the president. Little did she know that trip had secretly recorded their phone calls, which would become one of the smoking guns of the scandal.
In 1994, Paula Jones, a former secretary of state in Arkansas, accused Clinton of sexual harassment. In January 1998, the sexual harassment case got bigger and bigger... Ten thousand words omitted... Somehow we got Linda Trip in here. Linda Trip, unwilling to risk perjury, gave prosecutors the tapes of herself and Lewinsky.
The tape, along with Lewinsky's detailed diary, made Clinton increasingly passive.
The key piece of evidence was a blue dress stained with the president's semen, which Ms. Lewinsky intended to keep as a memento but instead left behind DNA evidence. When the test results came out, President Clinton had to address the nation, apologizing and admitting that he had had an inappropriate relationship with Ms. Lewinsky.
Clinton became only the second U.S. president to be impeached, but was never convicted or removed from office.
