Former White House intern turned anti-bullying activist Monica Lewinsky stormed offstage during Monday's Influencers Conference in Jerusalem, saying it was because of interviewer Yonit Levi's "off limits" question about former U.S. President Bill Clinton, with whom Lewinsky had a much publicized affair in the 1990s.
Lewinsky tweeted early Tuesday that there were agreed-upon parameters regarding the topics of her conversation about the perils of the internet, which followed a presentation of her personal experiences with online bullying after her infamous affair with Clinton was exposed.
Levi, the host of the Hadashot evening news, which hosted the event, opened the question and answer session by asking Lewinsky if she still expected a personal apology from Clinton over the fallout from the scandal of their affair 20 years ago.
Lewinsky responded: "I'm so sorry. I'm not going to be able to do this." She then put down her microphone and walked offstage.
The night after the interview, Lewinsky tweeted that she had agreed to participate in a 15-minute conversation about the subject of her speech – the advantages and disadvantages of the internet.
Lewinsky said that on the day before the conference, she had met with Levi, who asked her the same question about an apology from Clinton. Lewinsky said she told the Hadashot news anchor that it was "off-limits."
"When she [Levi] asked me it on stage, with blatant disregard for our agreement, it became clear to me I had been misled," Lewinsky tweeted, underscoring that she had left the event because "it is more important than ever for women to stand up for themselves and not allow others to control their narrative."
As of Tuesday, Levi had made no comment about the incident.
