Ryan Murphy Defends Monsters After Erik Menéndez Criticism

Trigger Warning: This piece contains discussion of sexual abuse.

When Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story premiered on Sept. 19, the biographical drama drew criticism from some viewers, and the real-life brothers at the story’s center.

Created by Ryan Murphy, the show centers on the 1989 murders of José and Kitty Menéndez (played by Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny), who were killed by their sons, Lyle and Erik Menéndez (played by Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch).

The siblings claimed they murdered their parents in self-defense after suffering years of sexual abuse. They were convicted in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On Sept. 20, younger brother Erik released a statement from prison about the “dishonest” Netflix drama, sharing his view that Murphy created the show with “bad intent.”

Murphy responded to Erik’s criticisms on Sept. 23, telling Entertainment Tonight he finds it “interesting that he’s issued a statement without having seen the show.”

“It’s really hard — if it’s your life — to see your life up on screen,” he continued, adding that “if you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65 percent” of the show’s script “center around the abuse and what they claim happened to them. We do it very carefully and we give them their day in court and they talk openly about it.”

Murphy also acknowledged that “writing about all points of view can be controversial,” but defended his decision to show “the points of view and theories from so many people who were involved in the case.”

“There were four people involved in that. Two of them are dead,” he continued to Entertainment Tonight. “What about the parents? We had an obligation as storytellers to also try and put in their perspective based on our research.”

Erik Menéndez Statement

As mentioned, the younger Menéndez sibling criticized Netflix’s Monsters from prison on Sept. 20.

“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,” he wrote. “Back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused.”

Erik also described the portrayal of his older brother Lyle as “vile and appalling,” concluding, “Is the truth not enough?”

Following the release of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Netflix announced a documentary featuring interviews with the Menendez brothers themselves will premiere on Oct. 7. “For the first time in 30 years, and in their own words, both brothers revisit the trial that shocked the nation,” a synopsis reads.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit hotline.rainn.org.