Ryan Murphy has hit back at his critics, including the Menendez brothers, who claimed that Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, is full of "blatant lies".
Netflix’s latest series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, revisits the infamous 1989 murders of José and Kitty Menendez by their sons, Lyle and Erik.
Watch the trailer below:The series, which follows the success of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, has drawn sharp criticism from the Menendez family over its portrayal of the case.
The Menendez brothers became widely known in the early 1990s after being convicted of killing their parents in their Beverly Hills home.
José Menendez was shot five times, including a fatal point-blank shot to the head, while Kitty Menendez was shot nine times as she tried to flee, per the Daily Mail.
Following the killings, the brothers discarded the evidence and went to see Batman at a local theater.
Later, they returned home and called 911, hysterically claiming to have found their parents dead. Their arrest came six months later, in March 1990.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of first-degree murder in a case that captured national attention, involving two trials, multiple juries, and a mistrial.
The brothers claimed they had endured years of physical and sexual abuse from their father, which they said led to the murders - a key issue revisited in Netflix's new series.
Erik, now 53 and serving a life sentence, issued a statement condemning the portrayal.
He called the show “dishonest,” adding that it is filled with “horrible and blatant lies” about both himself and his brother Lyle, 56.
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."
At the premiere of his new FX series Grotesquerie on Monday, Murphy, 58, responded to Erik's comments.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Murphy remarked: “I think it’s interesting that he’s issued a statement without having seen the show.”
Acknowledging the sensitivity of adapting real-life stories, Murphy continued: “It’s really, really hard — if it’s your life — to see your life up on screen.”
Murphy defended his portrayal of the Menendez brothers' story, emphasizing that a significant portion of the series focuses on the abuse the brothers claimed they endured at the hands of their parents.
“I would say 60 to 65 percent of our show in the scripts and in the film form center around the abuse and what they claim happened to them. And we do it very carefully and we give them their day in court,” Murphy explained.
The producer also noted the complexities of exploring sexual abuse on television, describing it as “controversial.”
He compared the storytelling approach to Rashomon, a classic film known for presenting multiple perspectives.
“Two of them are dead,” Murphy said, referring to the parents. “What about the parents? We had an obligation as storytellers to also try and put in their perspective based on our research, which we did.”
When asked about the depiction of a romantic relationship between the brothers in the show, Murphy emphasized that the series presents various perspectives, including theories put forth by those involved in the case.
“Dominick Dunne [Vanity Fair journalist] wrote several articles talking about that theory,” Murphy pointed out. “We are presenting his point of view. And we had an obligation to show all of that, and we did.”
In the Netflix series, Erik and Lyle Menendez are portrayed by actors Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez, respectively.
Javier Bardem and Chloe Sevigny take on the roles of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
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