These Were Linda Tripp's True Feelings About Her SNL Portrayal

You know you've made it when you're impersonated on "Saturday Night Live" — even if your fame is for unfortunate reasons. For example, Linda Tripp, the Pentagon employee who helped expose former President Bill Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, per The New York Times, became a person of interest on the show. Like Lewinsky, she also became regular news fodder, with everyone from late-night talk show hosts to parody shows like "SNL" lampooning her. In fact, per the NYT, "conservatives and Clinton-haters who once hailed [Tripp] did little to try to protect her. The gibes about her were so cruel that she more or less gave up on her own defense."  

And despite playing a critical role in the case against Clinton, Tripp was often depicted as a villain and made fun of for her average looks, per The New York Times. Although she is now seen in a better light in regard to the scandal, there's no taking away from the fact that she was the laugh of the country for so long. So, how did Tripp really feel about her harsh depiction on "SNL"? Read on to find out.

Actor John Goodman took on the role of portraying Linda Tripp on "Saturday Night Live" in the late '90s. Gender differences aside, the sketches generally aimed low, focusing on ridiculing Tripp's style, appearance, and weight. And despite being the one caught cheating, Bill Clinton arguably got a better representation on "SNL" than Tripp, per filmmaker Blair Foster. "The president got to be a fully formed human who's flawed and complex, but the women were always reduced to stereotypes, and that includes Linda," he told The New York Times in 2020. 

In a 1999 interview with Larry King, Tripp admitted to finding some of the impressions humorous, but noted that at least one hurt her feelings. "To me, that was — that was not funny anymore to me," she stated after seeing one particularly harsh sketch on an unnamed cable news show.

In a 2001 interview, again with Larry King, Tripp went on to explain the negative effect her unflattering portrayal had on her children. "Kids are so sensitive about their parents ... And my kids always thought I was pretty. And they were so completely shattered by the John Goodman and the horrible press," she said. She went on to disclose that her children's trauma played a part in her electing to get plastic surgery. "I just felt so badly for them. I just wanted to fix it," she explained.

Few people think of themselves as the villain of the story. Even when we behave selfishly, we generally like to believe that it's with good intentions. This was certainly true of Linda Tripp, who always maintained that she acted in the country's best interest by disclosing the private tapes she recorded of her conversations with Monica Lewinsky, per Politico. In fact, she once admitted she had been "guilt-ridden" about the whole situation, but still pressed on because she believed revealing the affair to the world would "benefit" Lewinsky. Whatever her reasons may have been, she certainly didn't deserve nationwide mockery and judgement.

In fact, even Lewinsky, who once famously declared that she hates Tripp to a grand jury, seems to have forgiven her old enemy. Upon the news of Tripp's illness before her death in 2020, Lewinsky tweeted a heartfelt message to her. "No matter the past, upon hearing that linda tripp is very seriously ill, i hope for her recovery. i can't imagine how difficult this is for her family," she wrote. 

While not quite a rehabilitation of her image, Tripp is currently receiving a much fairer portrayal on FX's Lewinsky-produced "Impeachment: American Crime Story." Tripp, for one, would likely be pleased to hear the actor chosen to play her: the gorgeous Sarah Paulson.