Netflix
- "Monsters" is a fictional show based on the lives of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who shot their parents in 1989.
- In a statement shared on X, Erik Menendez criticized the show's depiction of sexual abuse.
- Producer Ryan Murphy responded that it's difficult "to see your life up on screen."
Erik Menendez and his family have criticized Netflix's new true crime series, "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story," claiming that multiple scenes are inaccurate.
"Monsters," a sequel to "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story," is described by Netflix as a fictional show based on the murder trial of brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez, who shot and killed their parents in 1989.
The brothers' case was one of the biggest media sensations of the '90s and is the subject of multiple movies and TV shows.
Co-creator Ryan Murphy said the story was accurate during a Q&A for the show in New York, Vanity Fair reported last week.
"All the stuff in here, by the way, is true," he said. "We spent many, many, many years researching this."
However, since the show was released last week, multiple viewers, including the Menendez family, have criticized its makers for including what they claimed were inaccurate scenes. It was not clear which specific scenes their comments referred to.
On Friday, Tammi Menendez shared a statement on X from her husband, Erik Menendez, in which he criticized how the show portrayed Lyle Menendez. It is unclear if the brothers have seen the show.
Erik Menedez wrote: "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 naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent."
Erik Menendez also criticized how the series portrayed the sexual abuse the brothers claim their father, José Menendez, inflicted upon them.
During the trial, it was debated whether the brothers killed their parents to inherit their money or out of self defense. The brothers, who are currently appealing their life sentences, claimed their father physically and sexually abused them, and they shot him to protect themselves.
Erik Menendez wrote: "It is sad for me to know that Netflix's dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women.
"Those awful lies have been disrupted and exposed by countless brave victims over the last two decades who have broken through their personal shame and bravely spoken out.
"So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander."
Ryan Murphy said it's 'hard' to see your life up on screen
On Monday, Murphy responded to Erik Menendez in a statement to Entertainment Tonight: "I think it's interesting that he's issued a statement without having seen the show. It's really, really hard — if it's your life — to see your life up on screen.
He added: "If you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65 percent of the scripts, and the film form, center around the abuse and what they claim happened to them. And we do it very carefully and we give them their day in court and they talk openly about it.
Referring to a 1950 Japanese crime thriller that revolves around the mysterious murder of a samurai, Murphy added: "It's a 'Rashomon' kind of approach, where there were four people involved in that. Two of them are dead. What about the parents? We had an obligation as storytellers to also try and put in their perspective based on our research, which we did."
Asked about the romantic relationship between the brothers, Murphy said: "If you watch the show, what the show is doing is presenting the points of view and theories from so many people who were involved in the case."
Tammi Menendez called the show a 'train wreck'
Tammi Menendez also shared her own criticisms of the series, before and after it premiered on Netflix.
"The Menendez drama on Netflix is a complete train wreck! The portrayal of the events is so exaggerated and untrue, it feels more like a dark soap opera than a drama. They really missed the mark on the facts!" she wrote before the show was released.
After the show's release, she added in a separate post, "I'm sorry to know I was right. The Netflix show was a insane perversion of the truth and a complete and tragic misrepresentation of Erik and Lyle!"
A Facebook page that appeared to be run by a family member of Lyle Menendez, which has been cited widely by news outlets, also slammed the series, sharing their thoughts on each episode before telling followers to stop watching the show.
Business Insider contacted the account to verify if it is run by a relative of Lyle Menendez.
In one post, the user wrote: "They had a plethora of material to draw from, and this is what they chose to do????? It's laughable. It's pathetic. And it is re-victimizing. It is imaginary. It is fiction. And to put out into the world the absurd notion that the brothers were lovers is the height of pure evil."
The last line refers to multiple scenes in the series where the brothers kiss or are implied to be secret lovers.
Ted Soqui / Sygma via Getty Images
In 1995, the Los Angeles Times reported that Erik Menendez testified during a retrial that Lyle Menendez molested him when they were children. But there was no evidence or testimonies during any trial that the pair had a secret relationship.
Other viewers criticized a kiss between the brothers on the show, writing on X that it was wrong to include a fake incest storyline when the brothers alleged they were victims of abuse.
The first season of "Monsters" was also criticized when it was released in 2022. Multiple family members of Dahmer's victims said Murphy and Netflix were profiting from their pain, and claimed neither contacted them to ask for their approval to tell their stories.
The Hollywood Reporter reported in October 2022 that Murphy told a Directors Guild of America event in Los Angeles that they contacted 20 of the victims' families and friends and received no responses.
A representative for Netflix did not immediately respond to a comment request from Business Insider.