Current:Home > Contact-usHere's What Erik Menendez Really Thinks About Ryan Murphy's Menendez Brothers Series-InfoLens
Here's What Erik Menendez Really Thinks About Ryan Murphy's Menendez Brothers Series
View Date:2024-12-23 15:50:06
Erik Menendez is speaking out against Ryan Murphy's series about him and his brother Lyle Menendez, who are serving life sentences for murdering their parents in 1989.
Erik's shared his thoughts about Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story in a message his wife Tammi Menendez shared on X, formerly Twitter, Sept. 19, the day the show premiered on Netflix.
"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 the show," Erik said. "I can only believe they were done so on purpose. 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."
E! News has reached out to Murphy and Netflix for comment on the 53-year-old's remarks and has not heard back.
In Monsters, the second season of an crime drama anthology series that Murphy co-created with Ian Brennan, Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch play Lyle and Erik, respectively, while Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny portray the brothers' parents, José Menendez and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez.
In 1996, following two trials, Erik and Lyle, 56, were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder for the 1989 shotgun killings of their father and mother in their Beverly Hills home. The brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors had said Erik and Lyle's motivation for the murders stemmed from their desire to inherit the family fortune. The siblings had alleged their parents had physically, emotionally and sexually abused them for years and their legal team argued they killed their mother and father in self-defense.
"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 said in his statement, "back though 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."
He continued, "Those awful lies have been disrupted 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."
Erik added that "violence is never an answer, never a solution, and is always tragic."
"As such," he continued, "I hope it is never forgotten that violence against a child creates a hundred horrendous and silent crime scenes darkly shadowed behind glitter and glamor and rarely exposed until tragedy penetrates everyone involved."
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (62275)
Related
- Where is 'College GameDay' for Week 12? Location, what to know for ESPN show
- These farm country voters wish presidential candidates paid them more attention
- 3-term Democratic lawmaker tries to hold key US Senate seat in GOP-friendly Montana
- Control of Congress is at stake and with it a president’s agenda
- The Daily Money: All about 'Doge.'
- Legislature’s majorities and picking a new state attorney general are on the Pennsylvania ballot
- Bernie Marcus, The Home Depot co-founder and billionaire philanthropist, dies at 95
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, As It Stands
- Mississippi rising, Georgia falling in college football NCAA Re-Rank 1-134 after Week 11
- Banana Republic Outlet Quietly Dropped Early Black Friday Deals—Fur Coats, Sweaters & More for 70% Off
Ranking
- Texas mother sentenced to 50 years for leaving kids in dire conditions as son’s body decomposed
- Powerball winning numbers for November 4 drawing: Jackpot hits $63 million
- Travis Kelce, Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber and More Stars Who've Met the President Over the Years
- Powerball winning numbers for November 4 drawing: Jackpot hits $63 million
- Benny Blanco Reveals Selena Gomez's Rented Out Botanical Garden for Lavish Date Night
- Ready to spend retirement savings? What to know about a formula for safe withdrawals
- 1000-Lb. Sisters’ Tammy Slaton Addresses Rumors Sister Amy Slaton Is Pregnant
- Gerrit Cole, Yankees call each others' bluffs in opt-out saga: 'Grass isn’t always greener'
Recommendation
-
Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul press conference highlights: 'Problem Child' goads 'Iron Mike'
-
A former Trump aide and a longtime congressman are likely to win in high-profile Georgia races
-
US Rep. John Curtis is favored to win Mitt Romney’s open Senate seat in Utah
-
MLB free agent rankings: Soto, Snell lead top 120 players for 2024-2025
-
Crews battle 'rapid spread' conditions against Jennings Creek fire in Northeast
-
South Carolina forward Ashlyn Watkins has charges against her dismissed
-
Man faces fatal kidnapping charges in 2016 disappearance of woman and daughter in Florida
-
Rudy Giuliani ordered to appear in court after missing deadline to turn over assets