“Monsters” star Cooper Koch’s prison visit with Erik Menendez

Convicted murderer Erik Menendez may have harshly condemned Ryan Murphy's controversial Netflix series. Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez, about the complex account of the murder of their parents by him and his brother Lyle Menendez in 1989 and the criminal trials that followed. But the California prisoner, who is serving life behind bars, had high praise for the actor who portrays him when the pair met in person during a prison visit arranged by Kim Kardashian last week.

Cooper Koch, the breakout star of the hit series, said The Hollywood Reporter When he arrived at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility for a visit to talk about prison reform and the Menendez brothers' massive mural project at the San Diego County complex, he and the man he portrays – with newfound sympathy – were in one praised performance – at the wheel each other almost immediately.

“We went in [prison’s] gym, and the first person I saw was Erik. And we looked at each other and he smiled and I smiled and we hugged. And it was really, really powerful and emotional. It was an incredible experience,” Koch said, then referring to Erik and Lyle Menendez, both of whom were at the event. “And he – they were both so nice and so normal.”

The trip was a last-minute affair for Koch, who received a FaceTime call from Kardashian out of the blue just days before the trip when the series premiered on Netflix. The reality star has been advocating for incarcerated people since 2018, when a Mic.com video of then-inmate Alice Johnson went viral, inspiring the reality TV megastar to stand up for the grandmother and ultimately free her from her life sentence freed from the sentence imposed on her for drug trafficking offenses. Kardashian invited Koch, along with her and others, on a planned trip to RJ Donovan Correctional Facility to meet with the Menendez brothers, who have been working on a 1,000-foot-long mural that tops the concrete walls of a section of the prison called Echo Yard .

Koch said THR that he and Erik Menendez were able to spend some time talking one-on-one. At one point during their one-on-one conversation, the man he spent over a year redefining as a compassionate victim of sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his parents praised him for his work — even though he hadn't seen the series yet.

“One of the first things Erik said was, ‘I know you’re doing great. You did a great job in episode five [“The Hurt Man”] and I'll look at it. “I just know it's difficult,” Koch recalled saying about the bottle episode midway through the series, in which Koch's Erik details his father's alleged sexual and emotional abuse. “And I talked to him about it, which was crazy to me.”

Koch said the two then discussed the backlash the series has received due to certain creative decisions in its script, which some see as a deeply problematic revision of history. The weekend after that Monster Erik Menendez, who debuted on Netflix, released a statement calling the portrayal of him and his brother “naive and inaccurate to the facts of our lives, to do so without any ill intent.”

Days later, Murphy shot back, defending the series and the multiple perspectives and theories presented on the brothers' case, including suggestions of incest between the two that are included and are said to echo reporter Dominick Dunne's suggestion about their relationship. This week, the war of words continued as two dozen members of the Menendez brothers' extended family released another statement calling the series a “character assassination” and arguing that its “untruths” had victimized the entire Menendez family. Murphy then doubled down, saying his show was the best thing to happen to the brothers “in 30 years” since their case is now a hot topic.

“I spoke to him about his statement,” Koch said THR. “And you know, I just told him that I understand where he’s coming from. I feel for him. I can't imagine what it must be like to have the worst parts of your life portrayed on television in this fictional, dramatized way, you know, and so I just told him that I was on his side. I understand how that must feel and that it’s really difficult.”

The Menendez brothers exhausted all legal remedies over the years and chose to spend their lives in prison without the possibility of parole. But recently their father was accused of sexual abuse by a former member of the 1980s boy band Menudo, and author Robert Rand uncovered a solid piece of evidence that suggests Jose Menendez likely abused his sons. Now, through a habeas corpus petition, the Menendez brothers could receive a new sentence for their 1989 crime, possibly reduced to time served and they could be released after 30 years.

Koch said he really hopes this becomes a reality for the brothers.

“They did so many great things in prison,” he said. “Erik teaches meditation. He teaches speaking classes. They are both incredible people. I think back then people just didn't believe that sexual abuse between men was something to believe in, and the easier pill to swallow was that they killed their parents for money. But now, after so long, I think people are more open to understanding that something like this happened.”

Koch added that after their years as model inmates at R,J, the brothers even found an advocate in an unexpected person. Donovan Correctional Facility.

“In fact, the warden himself told me that he would be happy to have them as his neighbors and that he would be comfortable having them supervise his children,” Koch said THR. “I think that says a lot!”

Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez is now streaming on Netflix.