Erik Menendez, one-half of the infamous Menendez brothers, has openly criticized Netflix’s latest true crime series.
He calls out Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story for a “dishonest” portrayal of his and his brother’s life.
The series, created by Ryan Murphy, revisits the 1989 murders of the Menendez brothers’ parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
The crime is detailed in the Netflix series. Both brothers were eventually convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
The series has been a hit for Netflix, with over 12,300,000 views in the first week of release.
The Ryan Murphy series rocketed to number one in the United States and the Top 10 on TV in 89 countries on Netflix.
Erik releases a statement against Monsters Season 2
In a statement posted via his wife Tammi Menendez’s X account, Erik expressed deep disappointment with how the series handled their story. He accused Murphy and the show of perpetuating “ruinous character portrayals” and questioned the intent behind the production.
Erik’s statement suggested that the inaccuracies were deliberate: “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, who is currently serving his sentence alongside his brother Lyle at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, criticized the series for reviving harmful and misleading narratives about male trauma and sexual abuse.
He highlighted the backward step the series took in terms of understanding childhood trauma, emphasizing that the story undermines the progress made in shedding light on male sexual abuse.
“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,” Menendez wrote.
The Menendez brothers have long maintained that the murders were a result of years of sexual abuse and psychological torment inflicted by their father, Jose Menendez.
However, the prosecution dismissed their defense, which argued that the brothers were motivated by greed, hoping to gain access to their parents’ $14 million fortune. The Menendez brothers were convicted in 1996 after two highly publicized trials.
In his statement, Erik concluded with a message of gratitude to those who have supported him and his brother over the years, urging that the truth prevail despite the media’s portrayal of their lives. He ended with a call to recognize the damaging impact of violence against children and to remain vigilant in exposing such abuse before it escalates to tragic outcomes.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story has garnered mixed reviews
The Netflix series, which stars Nicholas Chavez as Lyle and Cooper Koch as Erik, depicts the brothers’ upbringing, the events leading up to the murders, and their subsequent trials. Javier Bardem and Chloe Sevigny play their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
While the show has received mixed reviews, some praising the performances, others, like Erik Menendez, criticize its approach to sensitive topics, especially male trauma.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is currently streaming on Netflix.