Looking at what transpired after June 23, 1993, "I was very saddened in the way how the media was treating the whole situation. They used me as a joke and it was

Looking at what transpired after June 23, 1993, "I was very saddened in the way how the media was treating the whole situation. They used me as a joke and it was very sad. It was very hurtful to me that people actually take a look at and not see the reality of what happened here. I did not know how to handle it at that time. Instead of having a serious conversation about domestic violence and sexual assault, it was about John's organ. The whole essence of the whole situation is indignant."

Asked if she thought Howard Stern—whose stripes have changed over the years but was too big of an advocate for John Bobbitt to not merit a presence in Lorena—owed her an apology, Lorena said, "The way how I look at it, if I was waiting for everyone to give me an apology, then that would have prevented me from moving on with my life. And I am not going to sit around for everyone to give me an apology. I think that Howard and many others missed tremendous opportunities to talk about these serious social issues."

Almost three decades later, those issues are at least being examined in a new way.

Lorena, she told the New York Times, "is about a victim and a survivor and this is about what's happening in our world today." And while she's been to Sundance and will be trending once again on Twitter when I Was Lorena Bobbitt comes on, nowhere is she more of a celebrity than in Manassas, Va.

"I know I am still Lorena Bobbitt," she said. "That name you know, it's very important here."

I Was Lorena Bobbitt premieres Monday, May 25, at 8/7c on Lifetime

(Originally published Feb. 15, 2019, at 3 a.m. PT)