It’s official: after a couple years of fits and starts, “American Crime Story” will indeed tackle the Clinton impeachment trial. Monica Lewinsky is producing Season 3 of Ryan Murphy’s award-winning true crime anthology series, Vanity Fair confirms. “Impeachment: American Crime Story” is set to premiere in fall 2020.
The project, based on Jeffrey Toobin’s 1999 book “A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President,” was originally announced in 2017. Murphy ultimately decided not to move forward with it unless Lewinsky herself was involved. “Nobody should tell your story but you, and it’s kind of gross if they do,” Murphy reportedly told Lewinsky at a party. “If you want to produce it with me, I would love that; but you should be the producer, and you should make all the goddamn money.”
“I was hesitant, and truthfully more than a little scared to sign on,” Lewinsky told VF. “But after a lengthy dinner meeting with Ryan, I came to understand even more clearly how dedicated he is to giving a voice to the marginalized in all of his brilliant work. I’m privileged to work with him and the other talented people on the team, and I’m privileged to have this opportunity.” She added, “People have been co-opting and telling my part in this story for decades. In fact, it wasn’t until the past few years that I’ve been able to fully reclaim my narrative; almost 20 years later.”
“Booksmart” star Beanie Feldstein will portray Lewinsky in “Impeachment.” Frequent Murphy collaborator Sarah Paulson will play Linda Tripp and Annaleigh Ashford will take on the role of Paula Jones. This marks a return to “American Crime Story” for both Paulson and Ashford: the former starred as Marcia Clark in “The People v. O.J. Simpson” and the latter as Elizabeth Cote in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace.” The Clintons have not yet been cast.
Playwright Sarah Burgess (“Dry Powder”) will pen the adaptation.
Although she is probably still best known for the Clinton debacle, Lewinsky has reemerged in recent years as an anti-bullying activist. She’s also spoken out about the skewed coverage of her affair with Clinton and its fallout. “Throughout history women have been traduced and silenced. Now it’s our time to tell our own stories in our own words,” she wrote for VF. “Almost all the books written about the Clinton impeachment were written by men. History literally being written by men.”
Lewinsky appeared in last year’s docuseries “The Clinton Affair.”
