Erik Menendez Trashes ‘Ruinous Character Portrayals’ in Netflix’s Monsters: ‘Is the Truth Not Enough?’

September 20, 2024 @ 5:58 PM

Erik Menendez, who, along with his older brother Lyle was convicted of the 1989 killing of their parents, called Ryan Murphy’s retelling of their story in the Netflix limited series “Monsters” “inaccurate” and “dishonest.”

Erik, who is portrayed in the series by Cooper Koch, posted a message to Lyle’s Facebook page on Friday in which he lamented yet another adaptation of the infamous murders, that, he says, doesn’t stick to the facts.

“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. 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.”

Lyle is played in the series by Nicholas Alexander Chavez, while Javier Bardem plays their father José Menendez and Chloë Sevigny plays their mother Kitty.

“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,” Erik wrote.

The show, which premiered on Thursday, depicts the Menendez Brothers both as spoiled rich brats who went on a spending spree after the brutal shotgun murder of their parents and — as we learn later in the series — sympathetic victims who suffered years of horrific sexual abuse from their father and mother. The show also speculates about Erik’s sexuality and the nature of the brothers’ relationship.

TheWrap’s reviewer called the series, Murphy’s follow-up to the Jeffrey Dahmer limited hit series “Monster,” “salacious” and “exploitative.”

“Those awful lies have been disrupted and exposed by countless brave victims over the last two decades who have broken through their personal shame and bravely spoken out,” Erik continued. ‘

“So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander,” he added. “Is the truth not enough?”

The story behind the infamous murders has been told several times before now, including, most recently, in 2017 with the limited series “Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murder.”

It’s also been the subject of several docuseries, from the 1996 Biography series, “Menendez Brothers: Sins of the Children,” up through 2023 Peacock doc “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” which included sexual assault allegations against José Menendez from a former Menudo member.

After watching the 2023 documentary, Rosie O’Donnell was among those calling for the brothers to be released from their life sentences.