Monica Lewinsky Will Produce FX's 'Impeachment: American Crime Story'

The sex scandal between President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky that rocked America will be the next subject of the FX anthology series American Crime Story. According to Deadline, Impeachment: American Crime Story will "explore the overlooked dimensions of the women who found themselves caught up in the scandal" and the "political war" that was waged during Clinton's presidency.

The Guardian reports that the series will be based on Jeffrey Toobin's book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President that executive producer Ryan Murphy optioned in 2017. Murphy reportedly shelved the project last year because he felt it would be "gross" without Lewinsky's involvement.

Now that Monica Lewinsky signed on to serve as a producer, the project is full steam ahead with production set to begin in Feb. 2020. In a statement to Vanity Fair, Lewinsky said she was hesitant to sign on to the series, but embraced the chance to "reclaim my narrative" and the opportunity to tell her story. 

"People have been co-opting and telling my part in this story for decades," Lewinsky explained. "In fact, it wasn't until the past few years that I've been able to fully reclaim my narrative, almost 20 years later." Lewinsky said that her story is "evergreen" since "powerful people, often men, take advantage of those subordinate to them in myriad ways all the time."

Monica Lewinsky didn't give a reason for her change of heart, but her powerful 2018 Vanity Fair #MeToo essay and Bill Clinton's repeated refusal to publicly apologize to her for his role in the scandal might have played a huge part in her decision.

Sarah Paulson, who won an Emmy for her performance of Marcia Clark in American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, will play Linda Tripp, while Booksmart's Beanie Feldstein will play Monica Lewinsky and Broadway's Wicked star Annaleigh Ashford will play Paula Jones.