Ryan Murphy says he has ‘no interest’ in speaking to the Menendez brothers after Monsters backlash
Ryan Murphy said he never spoke to the Menendez brothers prior to Monsters releasing. (Getty)
Ryan Murphy has said he has “no interest” in speaking to the Menendez brothers following criticism of his latest series Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
The Netflix series is a fictionalised retelling of the famous true-crime case which captured headlines in the 90s. Nicholas Chavez plays Lyle, while out gay star Cooper Koch portrays Erik.
The brothers shot their parents dead at their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989 and managed to evade suspicion for several months before being arrested. Both were charged with murder.
The defence teams tried in vain to have the charge reduced to manslaughter because of the alleged sexual abuse the brothers had faced at the hands of their father. Lyle and Erik were found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder. After two trials in 1996, they were jailed for life without the possibility of parole.
Murphy’s dramatisation has faced backlash since it dropped last week, with some people branding it inaccurate and others claiming the show sexualises the relationship between the brothers. Erik himself accused Murphy of “bad intent” in creating the series.
However, after Murphy previously hit back at the criticism surrounding the show, the producer said he has no reason to contact the Menendez brothers about the series, nor did he previously before the series’ production or launch. Despite Koch revealing to Variety that he spoke to the real Erik before the series release, Murphy told the outlet that he has never spoken to the brothers.
The director told the outlet: “I have no interest in talking to them. It’s very good that Cooper has a relationship with them, and I’m very close, obviously, with Kim Kardashian, who has spoken to them.
“I love Kim, and I believe she does God’s work,” he said, having previously worked with the reality-star-turned-legal-advocate in American Horror Story: Delicate Part 2. “I believe in prison reform. I believe in everything she believes in. I don’t know what I would say to them. What would I ask them? I know what their perspective is.”
Murphy also argued that his role is not to “advocate for Erik and Lyle like Koch said he wants to be”. He continued: “I believe in justice, but I don’t believe in being a part of that machine. That’s not my job. My job as an artist was to tell a perspective on a particular story. I feel I’ve done that, but I wish them well.”
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is streaming on Netflix now.
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