#DefyTheName is a new anti-bullying PSA by Monica Lewinsky and BBDO, which includes celebrities changing their twitter handles to reflect the insults they’ve suffered. Via Vanity Fair:
Last October, Monica Lewinsky debuted a P.S.A., “In Real Life,” in partnership with BBDO New York and Dini von Mueffling Communications. The video, which went on to be nominated for an Emmy, featured actors reciting cyberbullying posts to show the power of hurtful online words. Nearly a year later, Lewinsky is back with another P.S.A. that’s an equally effective gut punch.
In this video, famous people are called by the names they have been called online: Lena “the Whiny Fat Cu–” Dunham; John Oliver, also known as “Dumb Bitch Loser”; “The Useless” Alan Cumming. Presented under the hashtag “#DefyTheName,” the video promotes the idea that name-calling, no matter where it’s done, can stay with the target for years. Bullying, as Lewinsky told Vanity Fair, even happened last week in the Senate hearings.
The P.S.A. this year is a little more interactive. It asks that people change their online name to whatever they have been called by bullies. And Lewinsky is not sitting this one out: for the month of October, she will take on the name Monica “Chunky Slut Unmarryable That Woman” Lewinsky. Here’s why.