Ryan Murphy’s latest Netflix venture, ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story‘, is bringing the infamous Menendez brothers back into the spotlight. Known for their sensational 1989 trial, the brothers were convicted of murdering their parents, José and Kitty Menendez.
The series aims to explore the trauma and abuse that Erik and Lyle claim led them to commit such an unthinkable act. But Erik Menendez, now serving a life sentence, is speaking out against the series for what he calls misleading and damaging portrayals.
Erik Menendez Calls Out Ryan Murphy’s “Ruinous Character Portrayals”
In a statement posted through his wife Tammi Menendez’s X account, Erik expressed his frustration over the way he and his brother are depicted. Erik’s online statement accuses Ryan Murphy and Netflix of painting a false picture of the Menendez brothers’ lives, calling the depictions “ruinous character portrayals.“
He even took it a step further, suggesting that Murphy might have done this intentionally. “I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.”
The brothers have long maintained that their violent actions were the result of years of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse from their father, José Menendez. He was especially disheartened by the fact that the show seemed to ignore two decades’ worth of progress in understanding childhood trauma, specifically male sexual abuse.
According to him, “Those awful lies have been disputed and exposed by countless brave victims over the last two decades who have broken through their personal shame and bravely spoken out. So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander.”
Backlash Against Netflix’s Handling Of Childhood Trauma
What bothers Erik the most, though, is how the series allegedly sets back conversations around 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,” Erik wrote.
“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.“
In Case You Missed It: 7 Alternate Endings To David Fincher’s ‘Se7en’?
In the ‘Monsters‘ series, Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny portray the ill-fated parents. While Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch play the infamous brothers.
Erik closed his emotional statement by thanking those who continue to support him and his brother. “To all those who have reached out and supported me, thank you from the bottom of my heart.” He also emphasized the importance of sticking to the truth, adding, “Let the truth stand as the truth.”
