Erik Menendez has spoken out following the release of Ryan Murphy's Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
The new series, which is the second release following Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story last year, follows the Menendez brothers' murder of their own parents.
On August 20, 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez shot their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, to death in their home and managed to evade capture for many months until a confession to their therapist came to light, leading to their arrest.
Since its release on September 19, Monsters has topped Netflix's most-watched chart - but Erik Menendez has spoken out to condemn the series.
Erik has shared a statement condemning Ryan Murphy's portrayal of him and his brother, claiming there were "horrible and blatant lies" included in the series.
In a statement shared on his wife Tammi Menendez's X (better known as Twitter) account, Erik said: "I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in this show."
He slammed Ryan for allegedly including the inaccuracies with "bad intent", adding: "It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent."
He continued: "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… Murphy has shaped his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander."
Erik also claimed that the show had a negative effect on reversing the progress made for male victims of sexual abuse to be taken as seriously as female victims and trauma survivors, and added that he wanted to thank those who had supported him thus far.
Erik also accused the show of glorifying violence and undermining their childhood trauma.
During the brothers' trials, it was revealed that they were victims of a lifetime of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their father, while their mother allegedly turned a blind eye to what was happening to her sons.
The prosecution had argued that the brothers had killed their parents in order to inherit their vast wealth, as the pair had gone on lavish spending sprees after the killings, buying expensive cars and watches.
Both Lyle and Erik are serving life sentences for first-degree murder at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California.
The crime and its aftermath, as well as the brothers' 1996 trial is covered in Monsters, where Erik is played by Cooper Koch and Lyle is played by Nicholas Chavez.
Viewers had also praised Netflix for the "perfect" casting choices of the Menendez brothers.
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