Erik Menendez Slams Netflix’s Monsters as ‘Vile and Appalling,’ Calls Out Ryan Murphy for ‘Horrible and Blatant Lies’
One of the real-life killers behind Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is taking issue with the show’s portrayal of them.
Erik Menendez, who was convicted along with his brother Lyle of killing their parents in a sensational trial that sparked a media frenzy in the ’90s, issued a blistering statement condemning the inaccuracies found in the Ryan Murphy-produced docudrama on Friday, via his brother Lyle’s Facebook page. (The Facebook page is run by Lyle’s family; both brothers are currently serving life in prison without parole. TVLine has reached out to the administrator of Lyle’s page for further comment, and to Netflix for a response.)
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“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,” Erik’s statement begins. “I can only believe they were done so on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.”
Erik added that “it is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women… So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander.”
Erik also implored storytellers to “let the truth stand as the truth” before thanking his supporters “from the bottom of my heart.” (Lyle and Erik claimed self-defense at their murder trial, accusing their father José of years of physical and sexual abuse.) Erik’s wife Tammi shared his statement on social media as well.
Monsters — the second installment of Netflix’s Monster true-crime anthology, following the Evan Peters-starring Dahmer — debuted Thursday on the streamer, with Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch starring as Lyle and Erik, respectively. Oscar winner Javier Bardem co-stars as their father José, with Chloe Sevigny as their mother Kitty. Murphy serves as co-creator and showrunner along with Ian Brennan.
If you’ve watched Monsters already, give us your take on the series in the comments.
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