Monica Lewinsky reflected on the emotional toll of the White House scandal involving former President Bill Clinton during a conversation with author Jane Buckingham at The Beverly Hills Hotel, where she was honored as the 2026 Woman of the 21st Century by the Women's Guild Cedars-Sinai. Lewinsky said she lived through "very dark moments" in the years after the scandal and stressed that she did not want to "sugarcoat" the experience. Now 52, Lewinsky told Buckingham that being in a room filled with "positivity and love" felt remarkable after decades marked by "extreme negativity.