WARNING: The following post contains discussion of sexual assault and child abuse.
Erik Menendez is making the remarks about “Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” the first season of the Netflix anthology “Monster,” which dramatizes the 1989 murders of his parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, for which he and his brother are serving life sentences.
“We believed we had created a caricature of Lyle that was rooted in the egregious and blatant lies that permeated the show, and that we had risen above Lyle’s lies and destructive characterization. We can only believe that this was done intentionally,” Eric said in a statement posted by his wife, Tammy, on X. “It is with a heavy heart, [co-creator] Ryan Murphy cannot be so ignorant and inaccurate about the facts of our lives to do something like this without malicious intent.”
To summarize the plot, prosecutors in the Menendez brothers’ case alleged that the brothers murdered their parents so they could inherit the family fortune. However, the brothers also claimed that they committed the crime after years of physical, mental, and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents. Specifically, Eric and Lyle alleged that Jose sexually abused them as children, People magazine reports.
“I am saddened to learn that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedy surrounding our crimes has taken the painful truth several steps back, to a time when prosecutors built their stories on the belief system that men don’t get sexually abused and that men experience the trauma of rape differently than women,” Eric added in a statement. “This terrible lie has been shattered and exposed over the past two decades by countless brave victims who bravely overcame their personal shame to speak out, and now Murphy has built that horrific story with his vile, appalling characterization and disheartening smears of Lyle and me. Is the truth not enough? Let the truth remain the truth.”
The series stars Cooper Koch as Eric, Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle, Javier Bardem as Jose, and Chloe Sevigny as Kitty.
Murphy and co-creator Ian Brennan turned their attention to the Menendez brothers after the first season of Monster focused on the life and crimes of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, which sparked a lot of controversy, including backlash from the families of Dahmer’s victims.
In a statement about Monsters, Eric said, “How demoralizing that one man in a position of power can undermine progress shining a light on decades of childhood trauma. Violence is never the answer or the solution – it is always the tragedy. So I want to never forget that violence against children creates hundreds of horrifying, silent crime scenes that hide behind the glitter and glamour, and rarely surface until the tragedy permeates all involved. I’m so grateful to everyone who has reached out and supported me.”
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network’s national helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is a victim of child abuse, contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453). If you or a loved one is in immediate danger, call 911.
Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez, now available on Netflix
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