'Sex Addict' Anthony Weiner's Most Explosive Interview Yet — Disgraced Politician Brands Jail Sentence 'Ridiculous' And Reveals Why He 'Apologized' to Hillary Clinton
Anthony Weiner is running for NYC council 14 years after his sexting scandal.
June 23 2025, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
Disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner has opened up about his seedy past as he attempts to make a political comeback 14 years after his promising career went up in flames, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Weiner's political career came to a crashing halt in May 2011 when he posted a sexually explicit photo of his crotch on Twitter.
While he initially tried to dismiss the incident, claiming his account was hacked, the event snowballed into a sexting scandal. At a press conference, he confessed he had "exchanged messages and photos of an explicit nature with about six women over the last three years" and later resigned from Congress.
But his scandals didn't stop when he left office.
FBI Probe
Weiner claimed his Twitter account was hacked when he shared an explicit photo of himself in May 2011.
In April 2013, as he was running for mayor of New York City, he was caught in another sexting scandal with a 22-year-old woman, effectively ending his race.
Three years later in 2016, a report exposed another explicit photo he sent to a woman, in which his then-4-year-old son Jordan was seen sleeping in bed next to him.
Weeks later, it was revealed that he sent an explicit photo to a 15-year-old girl, prompting an FBI probe. His ex-wife, Huma Abedin, a former adviser to Hillary Clinton, then filed for divorce.
A week before the 2016 presidential election, the FBI announced they discovered messages between Clinton and Abedin on Weiner's seized laptop.
Letter to Clinton
The FBI's probe into Weiner reopened an investigation into Clinton's use of private emails.
The communication relaunched the infamous probe into Clinton's use of private emails, which the former Secretary of State credited as a factor in her loss to Donald Trump.
While reflecting on the impact of his FBI probe, Weiner said he never made a "direct amendment" to Clinton.
He said: "I mean, look, it was a very close race, and she lost by a small number of votes, and so you can point to anything and say that was the difference.
"I think I wrote her a letter saying I'd like an opportunity (to apologize) at some point. I don't think we ever spoke about it."
'Ridiculous' Prison Stint
Clinton said the FBI probe was a major factor in her 2016 loss to Donald Trump.
He was ultimately sentenced to 21 months behind bars for transferring obscene material to a minor, though he was released from prison after serving only 15 months.
Despite his early release, Weiner believed his punishment didn't fit the crime, and he branded his prison stint "ridiculous."
He said: "It was a slow news week, and my name is Weiner. I knew that prison was ridiculous.
"For obscenity, it was pretty ridiculous. I mean, everyone did what they were supposed to. Look, the higher the monkey climbs, the more you can see his a--."
Since his prison sentence, Weiner has continued therapy for what he called a "sex addiction."
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Weiner called his 21-month prison sentence 'ridiculous.'
While discussing his treatment, Weiner said he goes to weekly meetings and noted the "rooms are fuller and fuller, more and more people, more and more meetings."
He then suggested his political past fueled his "addiction," noting: "You become obsessive about people's affirmation."
When asked if returning to politics would be smart for his recovery, Weiner replied: "I don’t think this is an example of an alcoholic who wants to be a bartender.
"I would argue that a lot of people in public life are really jazzed up by the affirmation. They get it. I just have to be mindful of it. But it's a reasonable question."
