According to Feldstein, Monica Lewinsky was personally involved every step of the way in the series’ creation. As she explained to Entertainment Weekly, “When I received the scripts, I knew that every word that I was saying was approved and had been to Monica first… [The producers] would go through the scripts with her and [she would] give all her feedback and her notes. And by the time it got to me, I was sure that everything in there was something that she felt comfortable with, she felt was real to her life and represented her.”
The series is based on Jeffrey Toobin’s book “A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President,” which producers including Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson optioned the rights to in 2015. The series’ official synopsis from FX reads: “‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’ is a limited series examining the national crisis that led to the first impeachment of a U.S. President in over a century. It tells this story through the eyes of the women at the center of the events: Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein), Linda Tripp (Sarah Paulson) and Paula Jones (Annaleigh Ashford). All three were thrust into the public spotlight during a time of corrosive partisan rancor, shifting sexual politics and a changing media landscape. The series shows how power lifts some and disposes of others in the halls of our most sacred institutions.” The first season of “American Crime Story” premiered in 2016 and focused on Toobin’s book revolving around the O.J. Simpson murder case. The second season, which centered on Maureen Orth’s book about the 1997 assassination of fashion designer Gianni Versace, premiered in 2018.
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