Oprah: I Almost Got Monica

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 30, 1998 / 8:16 AM EDT / CBS

Oprah Winfrey says she was offered the first interview with Monica Lewinsky, but negotiations fell apart over money.

On her syndicated talk show Tuesday, Winfrey told her viewers that Lewinsky's representatives had led her to believe she had landed the first in-depth talk with the former White House intern. But then they made demands over videotape and international broadcast rights for the interview.

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"I was told that I did have it, and then the conversation moved in a direction that I did not want to go," Winfrey said. "I do not pay for interviews, no matter what the payment is called."

Winfrey also told TV Guide, "I didn't get burned. It just got to be too complicated."

The queen of TV talk says she wanted to interview Lewinsky because she can relate to her predicament.

"I think Monica's gotten a really bad rap," she said. "I've been 21 and know what it's like to be 21. And an intern. In a situation where the president of the company acts like he likes you. So already my first question to Monica would be, 'How did this happen?'"

Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to appear on Oprah in November to promote a book of children's letters to the White House pets. Winfrey says the show's focus will have to change "under the circumstances."