Monica Lewinksy Tells Trevor Noah that Cancel Culture Has Become ‘Too Broad’

Monica Lewinsky pointed to both the benefits and problems with cancel culture with on The Daily Show, arguing that the term has “become a little too broad.”

Lewinsky spoke to Trevor Noah on Wednesday to discuss her new documentary 15 Minutes of Shame, which tackles the issue of public shaming and how the practice has been amplified through the internet.

“One of the factors – and we do take people through this in the film – is around the idea of how shame had been used since the beginning of time as a social tool,” she said. “When the printing press was invented, it all of the sudden leap-frogged into being something that could not be commoditized.”

She went on to point to tabloids and argued that they “bled into every area of our culture,” noting that Princess Diana’s death — which is often blamed on paparazzi — occurred just months before news broke of her affair with former President Bill Clinton.

“But I think what we’re seeing now, too, is that this is very much about power,” she continued. “Are there people in power who should face consequences? Absolutely. But there are people not in positions of power who are facing the same consequence and it’s ruining their lives in a way that is very different.”

Lewinsky later highlighted the concept of “shaming for change,” praising organizations such as Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement for holding those in power accountable and giving a voice to those who “haven’t had a voice for a long time.”

Noah agreed with Lewinsky’s argument that there is a “beauty and a beast to the internet,” adding that people in power should face consequences.

“I don’t know what you think about cancel culture and the term ‘cancel culture,’ but I think, for me, it’s just become a little too broad,” Lewinsky told Noah. “I think that really what felt important was for people to come to understand what happens in these shamings, and what does it feel like to be on the receiving end of that tidal wave of negativity. It has exacerbated from being just shamed; it also can be violence, and that violence — particularly for women — it doesn’t just live online.”

Watch above, via Comedy Central.