Never did comedian Colin Quinn think that he would be face to face with the butt of many of his jokes, Monica Lewinsky. The former "Saturday Night Live" alum from 1996 to 2000 would often appear on the popular segment "Weekend Update." And it was impossible to avoid one of the biggest scandals in U.S. history, then President Clinton's sexual encounters with the White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Quinn recalls his experience telling jokes on the show in an episode of "Salon Talks," to host Dean Obeidallah.

"Monica Lewinsky came on the show, did a guest spot on the show," he remembers. He referred to an appearance Lewinsky made on May 8, 1999. Quinn remembers exactly how he felt when she made eye contact with him, "She looked at me and she was so hurt and I was like 'oof, look what I do for a living. I was disgusted with, I felt so bad.'" He continued, "she didn't say a word. We were just passing each other in the hall and I was like ugh, I felt dirty."

And it was only a little over a year from when the Lewinsky scandal broke to the public. It had become easy material to riff on for "Saturday Night Live." Almost harkening on the current scandals that the show is riffing on today.

Watch the video above to learn why Quinn thinks being on "Saturday Night Live" brings out "a side of you" that doesn't care about people's feelings. And check out the full episode to hear him give his argument for why social media is ruining everything.


SalonTV host Dean Obeidallah is also the host of the daily national SiriusXM radio program, "The Dean Obeidallah Show" on the network's progressive political channel. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.