MSNBC's "Morning Joe" panel on Thursday castigated Town & Country magazine for uninviting Monica Lewinsky from its annual philanthropy summit after former President Bill Clinton also accepted an invitation to attend the event.
Lewinsky, the former White House intern whose sexual relationship with Clinton in the 1990s led to impeachment proceedings against the 42nd president, slammed the magazine's decision to disinvite her in a tweet Wednesday, without naming the publication.
"Dear world: please don't invite me to an event (esp one about social change) and --then after i've accepted-- uninvite me because bill clinton then decided to attend/was invited. it's 2018. emily post would def not approve," Lewinsky tweeted. "p.s. ...and definitely, please don't try to ameliorate the situation by insulting me with an offer of an article in your mag."
p.s. ...and definitely, please don't try to ameliorate the situation by insulting me with an offer of an article in your mag.
— Monica Lewinsky (she/her) (@MonicaLewinsky) May 9, 2018
HuffPost first reported that Town & Country was the host of the event, adding that Lewinsky was uninvited because Clinton had accepted an invitation to attend as well.
On "Morning Joe," NBC correspondent Kasie Hunt agreed with co-host Mika Brzezinski that the magazine's decision was "dumb," reflecting back on their previous conversations about Lewinsky being treated unfairly during Clinton's impeachment trial.
"It's been a painful revisiting of—and you know we've talked a lot on this show about what happened to her in the wake of everything that played out in the White House, the way she was kind of villainized, and she was the one shoved aside in favor of him [Clinton], so next time maybe just double check the guest list," Hunt said.
"How about invite her and don't invite him," Brzezinski added. "If you are doing an event, Joe, on social change, Bill Clinton is not your guest."
Co-host Joe Scarborough agreed and discussed the "remarkable transformation" in how the public looks at Lewinsky, saying she has carried herself with dignity in the wake of the Clinton sex scandal.
"She got hit on in the White House as an intern by a fifty-something president of the United States, and 20 years later she's the one that still has to hide her head in shame," Scarborough said. "Town & Country or whoever it was that disinvited her, what a joke."
"And what is wrong with women who continue to be sort of falling all over Bill Clinton to this day?" Brzezinski asked. "It is incredible, and it's the hypocrisy that is the reason we have [President Donald] Trump. People have always been mad about that."
Town & Country apologized to Lewinsky on Twitter less than 20 minutes after the segment aired.
"We apologize to Ms. Lewinsky and regret the way the situation was handled," the magazine's account tweeted, without elaborating further.
We apologize to Ms. Lewinsky and regret the way the situation was handled.
— TOWN&COUNTRY (@TandCmag) May 10, 2018
Clinton's press secretary, Angel Unreña, tweeted Wednesday that the former president and his staff were not aware of the magazine inviting or uninviting Lewinsky.
President Clinton was invited to address the Town & Country Philanthropy Summit. He gladly accepted. Neither he nor his staff knew anything about the invitation or it being rescinded. https://t.co/iZ0xtG4OvQ
— Angel Ureña (@angelurena) May 9, 2018
January of this year marked the 20th anniversary of the scandal that bears Lewinsky's name.