Bill Clinton Shares Remorse Over Monica Lewinsky Affair: ‘I Feel Terrible’ That It ‘Defined’ Her Life

Former President Bill Clinton offered some reflection on his affair with Monica Lewinsky in an upcoming documentary about him and his wife.

On Friday, Hulu will release Hillary, their new docuseries on the political and personal lives of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill. Both Clintons gave Hulu a great deal of access for the project, and part of it features Bill looking back on the extramarital affair that nearly resulted in his removal from office.

The Daily Mail watched part of the documentary ahead of its release, and they reported on how Clinton explained the affair and described what was the fallout like within his family. Clinton reportedly characterized the affair as a distraction from the stresses of the presidency.

“You feel like you’re staggering around, you’ve been in a 15 round prize fight that was extended to 30 rounds and here’s something that will take your mind off it for a while, that’s what happens,” Clinton said. “Because there, whatever life – not just me. Everybody’s life has pressures and disappointments, terrors, fears of whatever. Things I did to manage my anxieties for years. I’m a different, totally different person than I was, a lot of that stuff 20 years ago.”

Clinton and his wife also talked about how they went to marriage counseling after he revealed the affair, dishing on the “painful” but “necessary” discussions they had throughout the therapy. Looking back, Clinton says the Lewinsky affair was “about the most stupid thing” he could’ve done at the time, and that he feels “awful” about how the affair overshadowed Lewinsky’s whole life ever since.

“I feel terrible about the fact that Monica Lewinsky’s life was defined by it, unfairly I think,” said Clinton. “Over the years I’ve watched her trying to get a normal life back again, but you’ve got to decide how to define normal.”

Watch a trailer for the series above, via Hulu.