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CULTURE

Monica Lewinsky Documentary ’15 Minutes of Shame’ Examines Our Obsession With Public Shaming

Monica Lewinsky receiving a standing ovation after her TED talk in 2015. Her new documentary 15 Minutes of Shame will look at bullying and cancel culture.
Monica Lewinsky receiving a standing ovation after her TED talk in 2015. Her new documentary 15 Minutes of Shame will explore bullying and public shaming. (Photo: Steve Jurvetson)

15 Minutes of Shame, produced and starring Monica Lewinsky, will look at today’s ‘cancel culture’, bullying and public shaming and how we got here.

Monica Lewinsky and MTV’s “Catfish” star Max Joseph are teaming up to dissect the current trend of public shaming, in a new feature documentary titled 15 Minutes of Shame.

Set to air on HBO Max streaming service next year, the documentary is a timely commentary in our “cancel culture”, where the public (aided by the immediacy of social media and the internet) can condemn a person for past or current behavior that’s deemed offensive.

Directed by Joseph, who will also executive-produce with Lewinsky, 15 Minutes of Shame aims to explore our culture’s obsession with public shaming through social experiments, examinations of social behavior, and focusing on individuals who’ve been publicly shamed from around the world. Also to be included are the bullies, bystanders, media, psychologists, politicians and experts involved in the phenomenon.

Lewinsky will appear on camera in the documentary, along with other famous faces. The former White House intern has her infamous personal experience with the subject matter after her 1998 sex scandal with former president Bill Clinton. She has been candid about the shaming and cyberbullying she’s received since.

“I think that with the advent of the internet, and of course social media, we now have situations where it’s exasperated beyond what anybody could have imagined,” Lewinsky famously said this past year on John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight”.

Lewinsky has spoken about public shaming and bullying at a 2015 TED Talk and produced several anti-bullying public service announcements.

“Monica Lewinsky is an anti-bullying activist with unparalleled authority, making her the perfect partner for this project,” said Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max, during a press release. “And Max’s strong advocacy for social justice and distinctive storytelling make him particularly well-suited to explore this complex modern phenomenon.”

Lewinsky is also a producer of Impeachment, the third installment of FX’s “American Crime Story”, an anthology TV series that focuses on a single true crime story for each season. The third season premieres in September of next year and will focus on the impeachment of former president Bill Clinton through the eyes of Lewinsky (played by Beanie Feldstein, Booksmart), Linda Tripp (Sarah Paulson) and Paula Jones (Annaleigh Ashford).

No release date for 15 Minutes of Shame has been confirmed.

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1 Comment

  1. Larry N Stout October 24, 2019

    This is National Enquirer junk.

    Reply

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