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Ryan Murphy’s latest Netflix series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story, has been at the center of controversy since it premiered on the streaming service on September 19.
The series dramatizes the true story of Lyle and Erik Menéndez (played by Nicholas Alexander and Cooper Koch, respectively), brothers who were convicted of the 1989 murders of their parents José (Javier Bardem) and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez (Chloë Sevigny) in 1996. During the highly publicized trial, the two argued that they killed their parents out of fear for their lives after enduring years of sexual and physical abuse from their father. Lyle also accused Kitty of sexual abuse.
Upon Monsters’ release, many viewers criticized the show’s decision to suggest that Lyle and Erik may have been in an incestuous romantic relationship, with scenes in which they kiss on the mouth, dance together sensually, and shower together. As one X user put it, “You don’t get to rewrite the experience of real people and REAL VICTIMS to suit yourself!”
The same day that the show debuted, Erik’s wife, Tammi Menéndez, took to X to share a statement from her husband slamming its “dishonest portrayal” of him and his brother.
“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,” the statement reads. “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.”
Following Erik’s September 19 comments, a number of creatives and cast members who worked on Monsters have publicly commented on the backlash that the show has received. Below, Them has rounded up their responses.
Cooper Koch
Cooper Koch, the break out star who plays Erik Menéndez in the series and recently reportedly visited the real-life brothers in prison alongside Kim Kardashian, told Variety that Erik Menéndez’s statement “definitely affected me and it made me feel things.”
“I sympathize with him, I empathize with him. I get it,” Koch said. “I understand how difficult it would be to have the worst part of your life be televised for millions of people to see. It’s so exposing.”
The actor added that he understands “how [Erik] feels and I stand by him.”
“In terms of approaching him and approaching the part, I just really wanted to do as much research and dig really deep into myself to really portray him with integrity and just be as authentic as possible to support him and also to support his family and all the people who stand with him.”
Javier Bardem
Also speaking to Variety, Javier Bardem — who plays the Menéndez brothers’ father, José, admitted that although he knows Erik has spoken out, he hasn’t read his statement.
“But of course [his reaction is] absolutely normal, logical, and legitimate to say what you think about your own life being on a show. I support that,” Bardem said. “[Monsters creators] Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan give different perspectives, different views of the same issue because nothing is set in stone. That also includes the way to perform the character. We have to be open as actors to play and shift from one perspective to the other, depending on who is telling the story.”
In a separate interview with ExtraTV, Bardem was asked about his feelings on Erik’s statement, and responded, “We totally respect that, and we support whatever he wants to think about it, because it's his life.” He also added that “the show doesn’t want to show one truth” and that “the show has to show different views depending on who's telling the story, based on research and facts and opinions.”
Bardem emphasized that the show is far from a definitive statement on the actual events that unfolded, “because nobody knows except those two boys — two old men like me, and those parents who are not here to say anything.” “Whatever he said, I totally understand,” he concluded.
Chloë Sevigny
In an interview with ExtraTV alongside Bardem, Sevigny said, “I think Erik and Lyle and the family have a right to say their opinion and to vocalize it and make as many statements as they want to make.” She added that Netflix has a forthcoming documentary that allows the Menendez brothers to “tell their side of the story.” “I think it's admirable of Netflix to give them that platform to reach as many people as they want to,” she continued, “and I'm very interested to tune in and hear them.”
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane portrays journalist Dominick Dunne, who covered the trial as it was going on, in Monsters. He pointed out that Erik himself “hasn’t seen the show.”
“[Erik is] just criticizing it and condemning it without ever having seen it, so one has to take that with a grain of salt,” Lane told Variety. “Obviously, to have your life portrayed this way in a Netflix miniseries… he wasn’t one of the producers, so not everything might be flattering or make you happy. But I would say you should probably see it before you speak out again.”
Nicholas Chavez
Nicholas Chavez, who plays Lyle in the series, recently responded to Erik’s reaction during an interview with USA Today, saying, “I can only respond with sympathy and empathy in that I can only imagine how difficult it is to have the most traumatic moment of your life up there on the screen for everyone to see.”
“With the [real-life] court TV footage, you’re getting a glimpse into what was happening in that time, but the show aims to fill out a lot more details than just the courtroom scenes,” Chavez noted. “So that makes it interesting.”
Ryan Murphy
Monsters co-creator Ryan Murphy defended the show’s depiction of the Menéndez brothers following Erik’s comments in an Entertainment Tonight interview, noting that “It’s really, really hard if it’s your life, to see your life up on screen.”
“The thing that I find interesting that he doesn’t mention in his quote, is if you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65 percent of our show in the scripts and in the film form center around the abuse and what [the brothers] claim to have happened to them,” Murphy added. “And we do it very carefully and we give them their day in court and they talk openly about it.”
He added that Monsters takes “a Rashomon kind of approach, where there were four people involved.”
“Two of them are dead. What about the parents?” Murphy continued. “We had an obligation as storytellers to also try and put in their perspective based on our research, which we did.”
In an additional interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Oct. 1, Murphy doubled down on his defense of the show. When asked if he achieved what he intended with the show, the series creator said that he felt as though he had done so “100%.”
“The Menéndez brothers should be sending me flowers,” Murphy told the magazine. “They haven’t had so much attention in 30 years. And it’s gotten the attention of not only this country, but all over the world.” He added that he knew that the show had caused “many people” to offer to help the Menéndez brothers. Murphy also said, however, that “There is no world that we live in where the Menéndez brothers or their wives or lawyers would” approve of his depiction. “That was never going to happen, and I wasn’t interested in that happening,” he said.
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