Monica Lewinsky’s Guide to Pulling Off the Perfect April Fool’s Day Prank

Laughter. Oh, how we need laughter these days. The weight of the world is almost too much to bear. The news. The stock market. The price of (fucking) eggs. The fact that the third season of The White Lotus is almost over.

Not that anyone asked, but I think April Fools’ Day 2025 is just what we need. (That and a time machine.) Though I was a sweet but serious kid, I always loved April Fools’ Day. Like Pajama Day at school, or my dad’s green pancakes on St. Patrick’s Day, any departure from the quotidian routine gave me a thrill. And that’s never changed.

The origins of April Fools’ Day are murky. Some think it arose in the Middle Ages, when the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar shifted New Year’s Day from spring to January 1. Not everyone observes the holiday on April 1, but countries from France and Brazil to Iran and India dedicate at least one calendar day to jokes and pranks. (In Spain, they have an annual food fight.)

There’s something heartwarming about a global norm, agreed to across cultures, that celebrates playfulness and laughter. We are so often divided, but laughter can bring us together.

But why do I love this day so much? To find out, I did what every good (faux) investigative journalist does: I asked my therapist.

Dr. H’s first impulse was to go dark. She said it could reflect unconscious rage or the desire for power in a relationship, since the goal of a prank is to put one over on someone—and laugh at them. I didn’t want to think that could be true of me. Do I have hidden rage lurking in my subconscious? Probably? (Shrug.) But also, what woman doesn’t? The rage theory didn’t land as a puzzle piece sliding into place.

Fortunately, as I gave her some of my examples, she laughed and revised her opinion. For me, she said, it might be about connection. I love to laugh, and thinking deeply about how to laugh at somebody and with them is a way of showing I care.

The Clinton impeachment sent the little prankster in me into hibernation (a global scandal will do that to ya). But a few years later, I reclaimed my playful side with the help of a friend and neighbor in NYC, Ann. Now Ann pranked people all year long…and she was good. But April Fools’ Day was her Super Bowl. From her I learned the two keys to success: Always start with a kernel of truth, and always go all in on the joke.

My inability to keep a straight face was an obstacle, but technology eventually fixed that. Pranking over text became my specialty.

So in a feeble attempt to bring some joy to you today, here are Monica Lewinsky’s Greatest April Fools’ Day Hits:

This one’s going to sound pretty basic and boring at first: I taped a bunch of essentials to my boss’s desk. But here’s what makes it a little edgy: We worked inside the Pentagon, a wholly appropriate place to play an April Fools’ prank (she said sarcastically), and my boss, Mr. Bacon, was the spokesperson for the Department of Defense.
In the days of yore, when you could have a little fun on Twitter, Alan Cumming and I said we were coming out with an album together of Scottish Jewish folk songs. (He later went on to do a fantastic show called Och & Oy! A Considered Cabaret with a better singer than me, Ari Shapiro.)
One April 1, I sent a bouquet of “Happy Birthday” balloons to a friend in a busy office. It was not his birthday—a fact he was required to explain all day to the parade of well-wishers who stopped by his desk. Another year, I went a little more personal, sending a bouquet of “It’s a Girl!” balloons to someone I was dating. (That went over less well.)
When Farmville was at its peak, with more than 80 million users, I had a dear friend who was something of a star on the game’s platform. I made plans to visit her on April Fools’ Day (preparation is key). I arrived at her door with a package I said the doorman had asked me to carry up from the lobby: a barnful of farm-animal helium balloons and a letter, emblazoned with the Farmville logo, announcing that she had been elected the mayor of Farmville. After all the work I put into this one, I lasted about five seconds before breaking and admitting to the joke.
Remember how I said that a kernel of truth—something believable to anchor the story in—is key? Well, on March 31, 2019, I did in fact leave my phone in an Uber. And the driver did very kindly return it to me at the restaurant where he’d dropped me off. The following day—April Fools’—I told my publicist, Dini von Mueffling, that the driver then proceeded to try sexting me and sending inappropriate photos of himself. I said I didn’t know what to do. Surprisingly, before I could even get to round two of the joke, she told me to hold tight—she’d already contacted the head of security at Uber. (Don’t worry: She never even knew his name, so no Uber drivers were harmed in the making of this prank!)
Sometimes I really play the long game. I briefly met Boris Johnson at a holiday party in London in 2015. I was with friends who knew him, and somehow we ended up taking a photo together. (I’m less allergic to British politicians.) Come April Fools’, I pranked those same friends by texting them that I had slept with Johnson the night before and was freaking out. One replied instantly, “This time, Monica Lewinsky, do NOT tell anyone else!!!” Nearly 10 years later, they have reminded me of this joke every April 1.
Maybe my best prank came about two weeks after I delivered my TED Talk, The Price of Shame. I hadn’t flopped or even flop-sweat (which, yes, I was worried about). The talk was landing positively in ways I couldn’t have imagined, and I couldn’t have been more grateful. And my family was still buzzing with congratulations and pride.

The morning of April 1, I sent a group text to my mom, dad, stepmom, brother, and sister-in-law, saying:

Morning.

There will be an announcement that comes out today.

I have my reasons which I’ll explain later, but so you’re not shocked, I decided to do ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Love you.

Silence.

Then more silence.

A few minutes later, I got a call from my mom. My brother had called her worried and apoplectic.

“What is she DOING?! She just gave a TED Talk!” (There might have been some expletives in there.)

An hour after that, I got a text from my stepmom: “Please call your dad. He has not figured out this is a joke and is worried because with your bad ankles you’re not a great dancer. He’s called me three times.”

To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with doing DWTS. It’s just not the obvious next step in taking back your narrative after giving a TED Talk!

However you choose to celebrate this April Fools’ Day, I hope you make it a good one and laugh your ass off. Oh, and by the way, since I have this platform here, I was given permission to announce in the pages of Vanity Fair that I’m joining season four of The White Lotus. Location: the White House. Happy April Fools’!