Convicted murderer Erik Menendez shares his scathing take on Ryan Murphy’s new Netflix limited series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Erik and his brother Lyle Menendez were convicted of brutally murdering their parents in their Beverly Hills home in 1989, and both brothers are currently serving life sentences.
Erik, 53, shared his thoughts on the miniseries on Lyle’s Facebook page, slamming Murphy for what he called his “horrible” and “shameless” lies in the series.
“I thought we were beyond the lies and the shoddy portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle based on the horrible, outright lies that are rife on the show. I can only believe they did this on purpose,” Erik’s lengthy message began.
“It is with great regret that I must say that I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be so naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives as to do this without ill intent.”
Convicted murderer Erik Menendez shares his scathing take on Ryan Murphy’s new Netflix limited series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story; Murphy will be seen on September 16 in Los Angeles
Erik and his brother Lyle Menendez were convicted of brutally murdering their parents in their Beverly Hills home in 1989, and both brothers are currently serving life sentences; pictured together in 1990.
Erik is portrayed in the series by Cooper Koch, while Lyle is portrayed in the series by Nicholas Alexander Chavez.
Javier Bardem plays his father, José Menéndez, and Chloë Sevigny plays his mother, Kitty.
She continued: “It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime has pushed painful truths back several steps, to a time when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that men were not sexually abused and that men experienced the trauma of rape differently than women.”
Monsters premiered on Netflix on September 19 and depicts the brothers as spoiled children who go on a spending spree after shooting their parents dead.
Later in the series, sexual abuse of the brothers by both parents is shown, which alludes to Lyle and Erik’s true motives for the murders.
“These horrific lies have been debunked and exposed by countless brave victims over the past two decades, who have overcome their personal shame and spoken out bravely,” Erik said.
“Now Murphy shapes his horrific narrative through vile and appalling character portraits of Lyle and me and through disheartening slander,” he wrote.
The wrapper called Murphy’s version of Lyle and Erik’s story “lewd and exploitative.”
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story gives its audience reason to doubt the guilty verdict. There’s no denying that these two committed the crime, but their motives will always be questioned,” the outlet wrote.
“Isn’t the truth enough? Let the truth be the truth. How demoralizing it is to know that one man in power can undermine decades of progress in solving childhood trauma. Violence is never an answer, it is never a solution, and it is always tragic.
“So I hope it is never forgotten that violence against a child creates hundreds of horrendous and silent crime scenes, darkly shadowed by the glitz and glamour, and rarely exposed until the tragedy sinks in for all involved. To all those who have reached out and supported me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she concluded.
The 53-year-old shared his thoughts on Lyle’s Facebook page, slamming Murphy for the “horrible” and “shameless” lies on the show.
“I thought we were beyond the lies and the shoddy portrayals of Lyle’s character, creating a caricature of Lyle based on the horrible, outright lies that are rampant on the show. I can only believe they did this on purpose,” Erik’s lengthy message began.
Back in the spotlight: Lyle, left, and Erik, right. Menendez were just 22 and 19 when they entered their parents’ home in Beverley Hills armed with 12-gauge shotguns and killed them in cold blood in a case that shocked the United States.
“It is with great regret that I must say that I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be so naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives as to do this without ill intent.”
Erik is portrayed in the series by Cooper Koch, while Lyle is portrayed in the series by Nicholas Alexander Chavez. Javier Bardem plays his father José Menéndez and Chloë Sevigny plays his mother Kitty.
She continued: “It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime has pushed painful truths back several steps in time, to a time when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that men were not sexually abused and that men experienced the trauma of rape differently than women.”
The Wrap called Murphy’s take on the Lyle and Erik story “salacious and exploitative.” “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story gives its audience reason to doubt the guilty verdict. There’s no denying that these two committed the crime, but their motives will always be questioned,” the outlet wrote.
In a second post, Erik criticized Murphy’s characterization of his brother Lyle.
‘Obviously, anyone who has seen Lyle’s testimony or any testimony about Lyle knows that Murphy created a fictional character.
“The character was so over-the-top and absurd that even if it had been presented as fiction, it would be boring, ridiculous, unimaginative and clearly written by writers who perhaps should have been writing the deep dialogue that appears in pornographic films,” the post reads.
“Yes, I know I keep saying the same things in ways that aren’t very eloquent, but guess what? I’m not a professional writer. What’s your excuse?”
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