| Apr. 3, 2001 |
The pain of Sexgate catches up with Monica Lewinsky tonight, bringing her to tears before an audience of college students at NYU's Cooper Union.
- Lewinsky fields questions for two hours ranging from Linda Tripp to feminism to her life now, but it is talking about her old nemesis, special prosecutor Ken Starr, that makes her cry.
- Dabbing her eyes, Lewinsky interrupts her appearance with the college kids and leaves the stage to seek comfort in the arms of her mother, who is in the audience. Marcia Lewis rose from her seat in the school's Great Hall, embraced her daughter, whispered something in her ear and sent her back to the stage, audience members said.
- The sniffling Lewinsky took a deep breath and continued the invitation-only question-and-answer session being taped for an HBO documentary, participants said.
- "She was talking about how Starr threatened her mother with prosecution to get her to testify," said a young man from Rutgers, one of about 100 students in the audience. "All of a sudden she lost it and the tears came. That's when she went down to her mom," he said.
- Despite the dramatic moment, many students felt Lewinsky was "shallow" and "evasive" and that the evening with her was a waste of time. All audience members signed agreements that barred them from talking to reporters.
- "Someone asked her how she thought the Clinton affair and public perception of it affected the national election," said a student from Brooklyn. "Lewinsky refused to answer. Can you beat that?"
- Others say Lewinsky annoyed them by dodging simple questions like, "What do you think of Hillary Clinton as a senator?"
- Others say they were angry that she failed to apologize for having an affair with President Clinton when she was a White House intern, a scandal that nearly brought down the administration.
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