Ryan Murphy has defended Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story amid backlash over his new Netflix true-crime series, responding to criticism from Erik Menendez himself.
Created by Murphy and Ian Brennan, Monster Season 2 focuses on the notorious case that resulted in the trial of the century after Erik and Lyle murdered their parents Kitty and Jose Menendez in 1989.
Although it is not a simple case of guilt or innocence, the brothers are now fighting their case from prison, claiming they were subjected to a lifetime of physical, psychological and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents.
Since arriving on the streaming service, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story has faced intense backlash due to the way Lyle is portrayed, the way the abuse allegations were handled, and scenes implying that they had an incestuous relationship.
Erik’s wife, Tammi Menendez, shared a statement on his behalf on X/Twitter in response to the new Netflix series, saying it created “a caricature of Lyle rooted in the horrific and blatant lies that run rampant throughout the show.”
“I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be so naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives to do this without ill intent,” he continued.
Erik said it was “sad” that the way the case was presented had taken us back to a time “where the prosecution had constructed a narrative based on a belief system that men were not victims of sexual abuse and that men experienced the trauma of rape differently than women.”
In a new interview with Murphy, Entertainment Tonight discussed the Menendez brothers’ disappointment in Monster season 2, asking: “What do you say about their reaction?”
“I have a lot to say about that,” he replied. “I think it’s interesting that he made a statement without having seen the show. It’s really hard to see your life on screen.”
“What I find interesting, and what he doesn’t mention in his quote, is that if you look at the show, I would say 60 to 65 percent of our show in the scripts and in the form of the film is centered around the abuse and what they claim happened to them,” Murphy continued.
“We’re doing it very carefully and we’re giving them the opportunity to come to court, and they’re talking openly about it. In this day and age where people can really talk about sexual abuse, talking about it and writing about it and writing about all sides of it can be controversial.
“It’s a ‘Rashomon’ type approach, where four people were involved, two of whom died. What about the parents? As storytellers, we had an obligation to try to put their perspective into the research as well, which we did.”
The interviewer then addressed the backlash over the implications of a romantic relationship between the Menendez brothers.
“If you watch the show, you’ll see that it presents the perspectives and theories of many people involved in the case,” Murphy replied.
“Dominick Dunne has written several articles on this theory. We present his point of view in the same way that we present Leslie Abramson’s. We had an obligation to show all of this, and we did.”
Despite his defense, Murphy’s statement was not well received by supporters of the criminal case. “What are they claiming happened to them? There is so much contempt for victims of abuse, there is evidence that Jose was violent,” one said. Reddit.
Another commented: “And what does he have to say about the obvious fetishization of the brothers??? And the extremely inaccurate portrayal of Lyle?? I’m still amazed at how bad the show is. I really didn’t think he’d screw it up this badly.”
“We had an obligation. You didn’t have one, you could have left it alone and not made a show out of it,” added a third. “He fetishized the brothers and completely miscast Lyle. If Cooper hadn’t played Erik, the whole show would have been a total failure.”
A fourth said: “Dominic Dunne has never made any incestuous claims, am I going crazy? All he’s done is been weirdly obsessed with the brothers’ sexuality… why not add Robert Rand who was questioned even DEEPER in this case.”
However, not everyone is mad at the show, including this person who said: “Sure, the dialogue isn’t perfect and the emotions may not be expressed in exactly the same way as in real life, but it seems to get the message across to an objective outside observer.”
A second said: “From the moment Kitty ripped Lyle’s wig off in the beginning, I was rooting for the boys. I watched the Edie Falco show that came out in 2017, and I’ve never felt more sympathy for them than I do in this show.”
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is now streaming on Netflix. A new documentary about the case will also be released on Netflix on October 7. In the meantime, learn more about the case with our guides to the Monsters wig and the current whereabouts of Dr. Jerome Oziel.