Lewinksy Is Not Happy With Beyonce

After remaining silent on her affair with President Bill Clinton for ten years, Monica Lewinsky is speaking out via an article she penned for Vanity Fair. The theme of Lewinsky's piece is reclaiming her identity from the caricature the media has made of her and one of the people she calls out in particular is quite surprising. Monica Lewinsky is not happy with Beyoncé's song "Partition." I prefer her other songs too, Lewinsky, but what's your beef?

Lewinsky's entire article will not be released online until May 8 and in print until May 13 (a preview is available now), but according to The Wrap, Lewinsky draws direct attention to "Partition." In the song about getting it on in the back of a limousine, Beyoncé sings, "He popped all my buttons, and he ripped my blouse/ He Monica Lewinsky-ed all on my gown." In response, Lewinsky writes, "Thanks, Beyoncé, but if we're verbing, I think you meant 'Bill Clinton'd all on my gown,' not 'Monica Lewinsky'd.'" Lewinsky is definitely right in a technical sense (you understand) and in the sense that a lot of the burden in the scandal fell on her instead of on Clinton. She also writes in the article, "Sure, my boss took advantage of me, but I will always remain firm on this point: it was a consensual relationship. Any ‘abuse’ came in the aftermath, when I was made a scapegoat in order to protect his powerful position."

It sounds like Lewinsky has a good reason for writing the article. The scandal, which happened all the way back in 1998, has followed her to this day and is effecting her ability to get a job. For many of us, the scandal is in the past. Well, until we happen to hear it in a Beyoncé song. It makes total sense that Lewinsky doesn't want her name to be a verb, especially when it doesn't even make sense, but it will take seeing the full article to get the full picture.

The selections pulled out now like the "Partition" reference and the catchy line "It’s time to burn the beret and bury the blue dress" are slightly worrisome. Is the article going to be peppered with pop culture references and reminders of 1998 rather than a look at the real Monica Lewinsky today? Hopefully, Lewinsky isn't bringing up the need to put the scandal in the past as a way to actually put the scandal in the forefront and stay relevant, but we'll have to wait and see. For now, there's no need to set the Beygency on Lewinsky.