Cooper Koch on the Menendez brothers' prison visit with Kim Kardashian

Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez actor Cooper Koch says the first time he spoke to the real Erik Menendez wasn't the day he visited the real brothers in prison along with Kim Kardashian have. The actor who plays Erik in the series tells it diversity that he and the real Erik spoke on the phone the night before the premiere of “Monsters” on Netflix.

“I was able to have a really good conversation with him and tell him that I believe him and have done everything I could as an actor to stand up for him and portray him as authentically as possible and that I think the show really “Does a good job representing him,” said Koch diversity. “We had a really nice conversation. We talked about other things, like how I attended Calabasas High School, which is where he went when he first moved to California. My father graduated from Beverly Hills High School the year before Erik got there. We have all these weird parallels.”

A few days after the phone call, Erik criticized the series in a statement his wife published on X. Koch said the two discussed his criticisms with Kardashian during his prison visit. “I told him it makes sense that you think that way,” Koch said. “I can't imagine what it would be like if the worst part of your life, such a traumatic and tragic thing, was televised for millions of people to see in a dramatized Hollywood TV manner. I just said, 'I understand, I understand, and I'm on your side.'”

As for how Koch came to accompany Kardashian on the prison visit, the actor said the two were introduced to each other by his stylist Jamie Mizrahi.

“They had lunch together and I got a text from Jamie. It was a video of Kim saying, “I love you on the show.” “You're so great,” Koch recalled. “I thought it was so crazy, but then they texted me saying they wanted to call me. Kim gets on the phone and starts asking me all these questions about Erik and the brothers. Then she told me that she was going there and asked me if I wanted to go with them. It all happened very quickly.”

They visited the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego, California, on September 21 to discuss prison reform with inmates. They were also joined by Kardashian's mother Kris Jenner and sister Khloé Kardashian. Koch said Erik was the first person he saw when they entered the prison gym.

“We just looked at each other and immediately hugged. He was so nice. I also got to hug both of Lyle and just be in their presence,” Koch said. “They are such upstanding people. They have done so much work in their prison. Erik teaches meditation and language courses and they are doing this greenspace project to improve the prison grounds. It was just incredible.”

The Menendez brothers are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder of their parents in 1989, Koch said diversity He believes Erik and Lyle deserve a retrial.

“They committed the crime when they were 18 and 21, and at that point it was really hard for people to believe that male-to-male sexual abuse could occur, especially between father and son,” said Cook. “It was really hard for people to understand that the story they were telling was true, and this theory that they killed their parents for money is just crazy.” But back then it was easier for people to accept this to digest history. But now, after 35 years, we have so much more evidence of child sexual abuse and male-on-male sexual abuse that I think they deserve to be prosecuted again. And all that happened in that second trial, too, was that they were not allowed to press their sexual abuse claims.”

He added: “I really hope they get paroled and have a great rest of their lives.”

Koch mentioned that he and Erik were connected by spirituality. “I always knew I wanted to meet her,” he said. “I always knew I wanted to tell them that I believed them and that I wanted to be an advocate for them. When it happened, it felt strangely normal, like I already knew her, because I had watched her for so long and seen and heard her talk for hours.”

But then Koch paused and smiled. “I know it doesn’t make sense,” he said. “It's pretty wild. When I sit here and talk to you about it, it sounds really crazy.”

Koch's participation in the San Diego meeting comes as Kardashian continues to regularly visit prisons to collect and share information about rehabilitation programs and prison reforms, which she has highlighted and discussed on Kardashian TV shows diversity Justice Reform Summit.

In April, Kardashian met with Chloë Sevigny, who portrays Lyle and Erik's mother, Kitty Menendez, in Monsters diversity Actor after actor, where they discussed their first impressions of the case. Sevigny opened up about her difficulties portraying a victim of such a brutal murder, while Kardashian reflected on growing up close to the Menendez family. “I grew up right next door to the house where it all happened and everyone went to the same schools,” Kardashian said. “I remember hearing about the case, but my dad drove me past the house and told me the story.”