Monica Lewinsky has come out with criticism for the general public in regards to the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trial.
The 48-year-old weighed in on the high-profile defamation trial involving the former celebrity couple in an opinion piece for Vanity Fair.
Lewinsky's article was published on May 31 - a day before the jury sided with the 58-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star in his case against 36-year-old Heard over her 2018 op-ed penned for The Washington Post.
In her op-ed, the Aquaman star referred to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse", but didn't specifically name her ex-husband. However, the jury sided with Depp and awarded him $10.35 million in damages.
Lewinsky, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair, recently shared an article titled: "Monica Lewinsky’s Verdict on the Johnny Depp–Amber Heard Trial: We Are All Guilty."
She wrote about the trial affects domestic violence survivors: "It would be sad enough even if we just considered how it has impacted domestic violence survivors or those who have sought strength in the #MeToo movement. However, it's the larger implications for our culture that [concerns] me the most: the ways we have stoked the flames of misogyny and, separately, the celebrity circus."
Lewinsky referred to the trial as "courtroom porn" and drew parallels to the "soma drug" in Aldous Huxley's classic dystopian social science fiction novel Brave New World, writing: "We are hooked on soma, a drug that we think is making us feel better but is actually numbing us."
She also mentioned her past public scandal and wrote: "We watch or we read or we media-graze about these private turned public spectacles in bits and bytes, fearing that the sheer rancor and vulgarity might leave a kind of virtual stench—or, in my case, worrying that prolonged viewing might be triggering. (Don’t know what I’m talking about? Google: 1998)."
Lewinsky hit headlines back in 1998 when she became the center of then-President Clinton’s impeachment over their widely publicized affair while she was a White House intern.
After the continuous firestorm in the media, she has since become a vocal advocate against cyberbullying. She wrote that she "wasn’t surprised" at the "cruel and vitriolic discourse" that was "predominantly aimed at the woman" in regards to memes about Heard compared to Depp.
She went on to say that the ability to watch the trial through streaming means many people "think, subconsciously, that we have a right to look and watch. To judge. To comment."
Lewinsky concluded her essay by stating: "No matter whom the jury's verdict favors — be it defendant Heard or plaintiff Depp — we are guilty."