Lowe was 24 at the time and the incident occurred the night before he appeared publicly in support of Michael Dukakis at the 1988 Democratic National Convention.
The scandal derailed his career before he eventually returned to acting via the small screen when the political drama The West Wing launched in 1999.
Now 55, Lowe laments he wasn't savvy enough to profit from the incident in the way other Hollywood stars have been able to.
"The problem was, I didn't make any money off of it like everybody does now," Lowe told Cagle of the tape, appearing to reference the way the likes of Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton released their own sex tapes for public sale. "I was too stupid."
But Lowe has been able to incorporate his experiences into a live touring show, based on his 2012 memoir Stories I Only Tell My Friends.
"I talk a lot about recovery in the show, because I think it's good to see the examples," he said.
"I needed the examples when I was trying to change my life, and it's moving because it's a serious, literal life-and-death issue, but it's also really funny. I do a whole thing about how I loved going to rehab."
