Monica Lewinksy walked offstage in Israel after an interviewer on Sunday asked her whether she wanted former president Bill Clinton to apologize to her.
Lewinsky had just given a speech at a conference at the Jerusalem International Convention Center about online bullying and harassment, a topic she writes and speaks regularly about.
"Now, recently in an interview in NBC News, former president Clinton was rather irate when asked if he ever apologized personally to you. He said, 'I apologized publicly.' Do you still expect that apology, the personal apology?" asked Levi.
"I'm so sorry, I'm not going to be able to do this": Monica Lewinsky stormed off stage at a speaking event in Jerusalem because of what she said was an interviewer's "off limits" question about Bill Clinton. https://t.co/AQRpgUG4Id https://t.co/7hyvKxHmRB
"I'm so sorry, I'm not going to be able to do this," said Lewinsky, before standing and immediately walking offstage.
A few hours later, Lewinsky posted a statement on Twitter explaining that she had set "clear parameters" about what the conversation was to not cover, and that the interviewer had put forth the same question the previous day and Lewinsky had said it was "off limits."
so here’s 👇🏻 what happened...
"When she asked me it on stage, with blatant disregard for our agreement, it became clear to me I had been misled. I left because it is more important than ever for women to stand up for themselves and not allow others to control their narrative," wrote Lewinsky.
She also tweeted at news organizations who wrote about the incident, arguing that she had not "stormed" offstage as they'd declared.
@CBSNews stormed? not quite. politely said i was leaving? yes. walked as fast as i could off stage in heels? yes.
"Politely said I was leaving? Yes. Walked as fast as I could offstage in heels? Yes," she wrote.
In a statement provided to the Jerusalem Post, Channel 2 News, which organized the event, said, "We respect her sensitivity and wish her luck."
Monica Lewinsky speaking now in Jerusalem about faith, family and the events of 1998.
It also disagreed with Lewinsky's claim that the interviewer had agreed to not ask the question, saying in its statement that "the question that was asked was legitimate, worthy and respectful, and in no way went beyond Ms. Lewinsky's requests."
In May, Lewinsky was uninvited from an event organized by a magazine after Clinton accepted an invitation to also speak.
