It’s a war of words between the Menendez brothers and the cast of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Over the weekend, Erik Menendez slammed Murphy’s new series in a statement posted to his wife Tammi Menendez’s X (formerly Twitter) account.
“I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show. I can only believe they were done so on purpose,” Menendez wrote in his statement. “It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naïve and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.”
Erik's response to the Netflix's series.#NetflixMonsters #Netflix #RyanMurphy pic.twitter.com/Xz1waxA2u3
— Tammi Menendez (@TammiMenendez1) September 20, 2024
While speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Murphy responded to Menedez’s criticism, pondering why the incarcerated brother would issue a statement “without having seen the show.”
“The thing that I find interesting that he doesn’t mention in his quote is if you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65% of our show in the scripts center around the abuse and what they claim happened to them,” Murphy said. “And we do it very carefully, and we give them their day in court, and they talk openly about it.”
One of the most controversial storylines in Monsters involves an incestual connection between the two brothers. One scene shows the brothers sharing an intimate moment in the shower. Murphy notes that his show is based on the viewpoints and theories of those involved in the case, including journalist Dominick Dunne.
Nathan Lane, who plays Dunne, said Menendez should “probably see it” before speaking out again.
Cooper Koch, who plays Erik in the series, empathizes with the real-life Erik because of the difficulty of watching the worst moment of your life transpire in a television series.
“I sympathize with him; I empathize with him. I get it,” Koch said via Variety. “I understand how difficult it would be to have the worst part of your life be televised for millions of people to see. It’s so exposing. I understand how he feels, and I stand by him. In terms of approaching him and approaching the part, I just really wanted to do as much research and dig really deep into myself to really portray him with integrity and just be as authentic as possible to support him and also to support his family and all the people who stand with him.”
Monsters is currently the most popular show on Netflix.