Erik Menendez Destroys Ryan Murphy’s Netflix Series ‘Monsters’

Menendez’s real-life brother Erik has given his opinion on Ryan Murphy’s portrayal of his past crimes in the new Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”

In an online statement posted via his wife Tammi Menendez’s X accountMenendez, who was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder with his brother Lyle for killing their parents, said the drama created “ruinous character portrayals” of them both. The statement also accused Murphy of bad intentions due to the nature of the story the showrunner created.

“It is with a heavy heart that I say: I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be so naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives as to do this without malicious intent,” Menendez wrote in his statement.

Menendez, who is currently serving a life sentence with his brother Lyle at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, is calling out the series for reviving “unfair” stories about their lives, accusing it of misrepresenting male trauma and sexual abuse. He also states that he was saddened by what he sees as a step backwards in understanding childhood trauma, condemning the series for perpetuating harmful lies and slander. He ends his statement by thanking those who supported him and calling for the truth to prevail.

In the graphic miniseries, Javier Bardem plays the father, Jose Menendez, and Chloë Sevigny is cast as their mother, Kitty Menendez. Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch play their sons and murderers, Lyle and Erik Menendez.

Variety lead TV critic Aramide Tinubu strongly criticized the series, writing that “the show attempts to explain the circumstances that led to the crime while highlighting Erik and Lyle’s trauma. But ultimately the story feels pointless and bizarre.” Read the full review here.

Below is Menendez’s full statement:

“I believed we had moved beyond Lyle’s lies and ruinous character portrayals and created a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies that were rampant on the show. I can only believe they did this on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say: I believe that Ryan Murphy cannot be so naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives that he can do this without bad intentions.

“It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s unfair portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime has taken the painful truths several steps backwards – back in time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative based on a belief system that men were not sexually abused. and that men experienced rape trauma differently than women. These terrible lies have been challenged and exposed over the past twenty years by countless courageous victims who have broken through their personal shame and courageously spoken out. So now Murphy shapes his terrible story through vile and disgusting character portrayals of Lyle and me and disheartening slander.

“Isn’t the truth enough? Let the truth be the truth. How demoralizing to know that one man with power can undermine decades of progress in shedding light on childhood trauma. Violence is never an answer, never a solution, and is always tragic. That is why I hope it is never forgotten that violence against a child creates a hundred gruesome and silent crime scenes, hidden darkly behind glitz and glamor and rarely visible until the tragedy dawns on all involved. I would like to thank everyone who has supported and supported me from the bottom of my heart.”