Did Matt Drudge Save Monica Lewinsky's Life?

 

by Mike Shoesmith

Monica Lewinsky is back in the news headlines today, using the Ted Talk venue to discuss her famous "affair" with then president Bill Clinton. Yahoo! Celebrity reports:

"Not a day goes by that I am not reminded of my mistake, and I regret that mistake deeply," she revealed. "In 1998, after having been swept up in an improbable romance, I was then swept up into the eye of a political, legal, and media maelstrom like we had never seen before."

Lewinsky, of course, was referring to the infamous Starr Report released online in 1998, which detailed the most salacious details — and even secret conversations — from her affair with Clinton. "This scandal was brought to you by the digital revolution," she told TED2015 attendees. "It was the first time traditional news was usurped by the Internet, a click that reverberated around the whole world."

The Drudge Report attained prominence when it was the first to report what came to be known as the Lewinsky scandal. It published the story on 17 January 1998, alleging that Newsweek had turned down the story. This report put the relationship between Lewinsky and the president on the minds of people around the world thereby thrusting her image under the public spotlight and, possibly, saving her life.

There is a shockingly long list of people who have died under mysterious circumstances with connections to the Clinton family. There are websites which are dedicated to keeping track of this list [Here] and [Here].

So the simple question is this: did Matt Drudge, the man who exposed her to the world, actually save her life? With her new-found infamy and the knowledge by everyone on the planet of the reason for it, it would have been a bridge too far for most people to believe her death to be an "accident." Killing her off to avoid embarrassment might have been possible without the notoriety but alas, along comes Drudge and it's too late. Bill Clinton lies about it and is then impeached by the House. 

Lewinsky said in her talk "Public humiliation as a blood sport has to stop," she pleaded. "We need to return to a long-held value of compassion and empathy... I've seen some very dark days in my life. It was empathy and compassion from friends, family, coworkers, even strangers that saved me. Empathy from one person can make a difference. Compassionate comments help abate the negativity."

And yet, she apparently fails to see the very real possibility that her "public humiliation" as she puts it may have been what really saved her... from an early grave. 

I wonder if Drudge ever got a "thank you" note.