Erik Menendez says Netflix show is full of 'blatant lies' about him and his brother: NPR

Erik Menendez spoke out against the new Netflix series, Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez, It revisits the trials in which he and his brother Lyle were convicted of murdering their parents.

In a statement shared by his wife Tammi Menendez on X, Erik criticized the show, saying it misrepresented him and his brother and that there were “blatant lies in the show.” He accused co-creator Ryan Murphy of intentionally distorting the facts surrounding their crime.

“Murphy shapes his horrific narrative through vile and horrific character portrayals of Lyle and me and disheartening slanders,” he said in the post shared Thursday.

Erik added: “It saddens me that Netflix's dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime pushes the painful truths back several steps – back to an era when prosecutors built their narrative on the belief that men were not sexually abused and that men experienced rape trauma differently than women.”

Ryan Murphy Productions and Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In 1989, José and Kitty Menendez were shot dead in their Beverly Hills mansion. Lyle and Erik were 21 and 18 years old at the time. Police initially believed that members of a mafia were after their parents. But the brothers later said they killed their parents because they had been physically, emotionally and sexually abused for years.

The trial of the two was broadcast nationally on television in 1993 and became a media sensation. Public opinion was sharply divided about the brothers' motives – whether they acted in response to abuse or out of greed for their parents' wealth.

A cousin supported the defense's allegations, saying Erik had previously discussed them. But prosecutors argued the allegations were fabricated and that the brothers were motivated by greed, particularly a desire to inherit millions of dollars.

Their first trial ended in a jury deadlock. But after a retrial in which the judge did not allow the defense to fully present the allegations of sexual abuse against the brothers, Erik and Lyle were convicted of murder in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Both are serving their sentences at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Southern California.

Nearly 30 years after their conviction, Netflix is ​​revisiting the brothers' crime and trial in a 9-part drama starring Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle and Cooper Koch as Erik. In a press release, Netflix described the series as an exploration of the question “Who are the real monsters?”

It is the second season of the true crime anthology series by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. The first season was about the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.