Leaked Tape Could Boost Lewinsky Audience

Theirs was a relationship "between a man and a woman, and not a president and an intern...." Those words may sound like promotional copy for a TV movie of the week, but they were spoken by Monica Lewinsky during her two-hour interview with Barbara Walters. New York's Daily News on Tuesday published extracts gleaned from a leaked tape of the interview scheduled for broadcast Wednesday on ABC. The discussion covers everything from the fact that the leader of the Free World is "a good kisser" and liked to tell the former intern that she'd lost weight ("It may not have been true, but it was sweet") to his propensity for doling out copies of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" to the women in his life.

ABC's confirmation of the authenticity of the unedited tape acquired by the Daily News may, of course, be self-serving. Betting on a record audience, the network has pentupled the "20/20" advertising rate for the Lewinsky special: a 30-second spot is going for $800,000. While some traditional advertisers are loath to associate themselves with the broadcast, ABC's ad-sales department is targeting those it believes will take a chance on Monica -- movie studios and, surprise, surprise, Internet companies.

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