Monica Lewinsky Might Be Follow-Up to 'People v. O.J. Simpson'

With seasons two and three of FX anthology American Crime Story already in the works, showrunner Ryan Murphy is eyeing the franchise's future beyond that.

Murphy has set his sights on exploring the Monica Lewinsky scandal for a subsequent season of the franchise, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. To that end, Murphy and American Crime Story producers Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions have optioned author Jeffrey Toobin's 2000 best-seller A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President as source material. Toobin's book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson served as the inspiration for the Emmy-winning first season of the anthology. Toobin was deeply involved in the first season and served as a consultant to the writing staff.

Sources tell THR that Murphy and producers are fast-tracking the drama and already are meeting with actresses to portray Lewinsky and colleague Linda Tripp, who secretly recorded Lewinsky's conversations about her alleged affair with then-President Bill Clinton. Lewinsky claimed to have intimate relations with Clinton between November 1995 and March 1997. The scandal and its repercussions included impeachment hearings. Clinton was ultimately acquitted by the Senate, while two other charges of perjury and abuse of power failed in the House.

Read the rest of this story at The Hollywood Reporter.