Monica Lewinsky Banned from Italian TV Show
ROME (Reuters) – Italian television usually loves sex and scandal, but putting Monica Lewinsky on daytime TV on a Sunday close to Christmas was apparently too much for some.
So it was that the former White House intern, who hit the headlines in 1998 over her affair with former President Bill Clinton, came to Italy all dressed up for a TV party — with no place to go.
Lewinsky was to have been the star guest on “Domenica In” (Sunday In), a talk show that goes on for about five hours and offers a mix of dancing, sport and interviews with everyone from priests to pop stars.
But some politicians were outraged that state broadcaster RAI, which is funded by public money, planned to pay Lewinsky’s expenses using taxpayers’ money for an interview on a Sunday.
Rome’s leading newspaper, La Repubblica, dedicated two pages to the debate. Milan’s Corriere della Sera ran four articles.
RAI president Antonio Baldassarre expressed concern and network executives yanked Lewinsky off the show late on Saturday. The move was applauded by Communications Minister Maurizio Gasparri.
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