Photo: Miles Crist/Netlfix
Following a trend for Murphy productions about killers, the Menendez family has released a statement condemning Ryan Murphy’s latest series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. However, Murphy isn’t afraid to bite back in a recent interview.
September 20, 2024: The Menendez family called the portrayal of the brothers in the series “naïve and inaccurate.” “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. 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 naïve and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent,” Erik Menendez wrote on Lyle’s Facebook page after the show’s debut. “So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander.”
Murphy’s series centers on the Menendez brothers’ murder trial and the claim that the siblings killed their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty,” in an act of self-defense, not for the large inheritance they bore to gain. They accused their parents of physical and emotional abuse and accused their father of sexually abusing them as children. “Obviously, anyone who watched the testimony of Lyle or any testimony about Lyle knows that Murphy created a fictional character,” the post from the Menendez family continued. “The character was so over the top and absurd that even if this was billed as fiction, it would be boring, ridiculous, unimaginative, and clearly written by writers who perhaps should have been writing the deep dialogue that shows up in porn movies.” It’s currently unclear if they’ve ever watched another Murphy series before watching this one. The page does promote the upcoming Netflix docuseries about the brothers.
At the premiere of Grotesquerie, Murphy dealt an Uno reverse card to the brothers, criticizing them for… not having a Netflix subscription. He explained to Entertainment Tonight, “I think it’s interesting that he’s issued a statement without having seen the show. I know he hasn’t seen the show in prison. I hope he does see the show… It’s really, really hard — if it’s your life — to see your life up on screen.”
