Monica Lewinsky made her first public appearance in over 10 years at the Forbes Under 30 Summit on Monday, speaking out against the "reputation-shredding power of the internet."
Now 41, the former White House intern spoke out against cyber bullying, saying that she hoped to help others by sharing her experience.
Lewinsky spoke about Tyler Clementi's death after his college roommate streamed a video of the Rutgers student kissing another man.
Lewinsky said Clementi's story inspired her to speak out.
"That tragedy is one of the principal reasons I am standing up here today," Lewinsky said. "While it touched us both, my mother was unusually upset by the story and I wondered why. Eventually it dawned on me -- she was back in 1998, back to a time when I was periodically suicidal when she might very easily have lost me, when I too might have been humiliated to death.
"What I want to do now is help other victims of the shame game survive too," said Lewinsky. "I want to put my suffering to good use and put purpose to my past."