Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 77, celebrated 50 years of marriage to former President Bill Clinton, 79, but there’s still a dark cloud raining over their parade.
While Hillary cheered being married to Bill for half a century, some bleak online critics took the opportunity to turn that joy into a jab by bringing up the couple’s darkest days.
“When we got married 50 years ago, we had no idea how our lives would unfold,” Hillary wrote on Oct. 11 in an Instagram caption for a six-slide photo carousel of old pictures with Bill.
She added, “But one thing I knew for certain then, and still know now, is that I wanted to navigate the ups and downs and in-betweens with you. Happy anniversary, dear Bill.”
“Was Monica invited?” one Instagram user commented under Hillary’s pictures, referring to television personality Monica Lewinsky, 52. Another said, “Has Monica sent her best wishes?”
Bill’s two-term presidency in the 1990s nearly came to an early end after he was exposed for having an extramarital affair with then-White House intern Lewinsky.
The House of Representatives impeached President Clinton in 1998 on perjury and obstruction of justice charges for making false statements under oath about his Lewinsky relationship.
In 1999, the Senate acquitted Clinton. The Democrat was able to serve the remainder of his second term. Additionally, Hillary went on to win the U.S. Senate seat in New York in 2000.
Hillary shared a similar anniversary post on Threads, which also received replies mentioning Lewinsky. Another person sarcastically wrote, “What do you think Monica is getting you guys?”
However, supporters of the Chicago-born lawyer also shared positive messages on the platform. One response read, “Congratulations on your enduring and [enviable] love!!! Best Wishes!”
A second fan posted, “Happy Anniversary to the most brilliant couple. Madame Secretary, I so wish you would have become President. NONE of this would be happening. Much respect to you both.”
In contrast, someone offered advice to Hillary about remaining married to Bill following the impeachment-inducing Lewinsky scandal. The person suggested, “Still not too late to divorce hi[m], H.”
Hillary and Bill first met in 1971 while enrolled at Yale Law School. The highly ambitious pair later married in a private ceremony in their Arkansas home on Oct. 11, 1975. Their only daughter, Chelsea Clinton, was born in February 1980.
Many observers believed the Lewinsky affair and additional rumors of infidelity by Bill would lead to Hillary leaving her husband, but she remained by his side throughout the mounting controversies connected to the Clinton name.
For her part, Lewinsky placed blame on Clinton’s White House staff for the general public viewing her as a villainous homewrecker for decades. She admitted to having a “young woman’s love” with Bill, but called the boss-employee romantic relationship an “abuse of power” by the president.
“I’m by no means a genius, by no means going to be the cream of the crop, but I wasn’t a bimbo. I wasn’t a dumb bimbo, so like I was portrayed to be,” Lewinsky stated in a June 2025 interview.
The “15 Minutes of Shame” documentary producer also said, “I think that that was a narrative that was crafted and put out by the White House, so I think that mantle was picked up by a lot of women.”
