LYLE and Erik Menendez have revealed their true feelings about Ryan Murphy’s hit Netflix show about them and their murder of their parents.
“Monsters”, a nine-episode series, chronicles the infamous case of the Menendez brothers, who were convicted for the 1989 double shotgun slaying.
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The show explores their claims of severe childhood abuse, which they argued led them to kill in fear for their lives.
When Monsters first premiered in September last year, Erik fiercely criticized it, calling its depiction of their case “dishonest” and filled with “disheartening slander”.
He accused Murphy of pushing a “horrible narrative” with “vile and appalling character portrayals”.
Murphy defended his work, saying: “If you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65 percent of our show… centers around the abuse and what they claim happened to them.”
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Now, Lyle says the brothers see the show differently.
Speaking on TMZ’s 2 Angry Men podcast, he admitted they had watched parts of the series and “seen a million clips of it on TV.”
He acknowledged that Monsters “really did actually move a lot of people to understand the childhood trauma that Erik and I suffered, and particularly the horrific stuff that Erik suffered.”
Lyle also praised Nicholas Chavez’s portrayal of himself and Cooper Koch’s depiction of Erik as “pretty extraordinary”.
“I feel in the end, a lot of people were educated about what can happen even in affluent homes — behind walls and behind hedges, you know, and manicured lawns,” he said.
Lyle went on to say how Murphy’s show ultimately helped bring attention to the impact of abuse.
He told the podcast: “Ryan Murphy did his project and ended up doing that. And so, in that way, I think we are grateful.”
The renewed attention on the Menendez brothers comes as their latest legal bid has been rejected.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman turned down their request for a new trial, saying there was no new, relevant evidence.
However, he has yet to decide on a re-sentencing bid that could lead to the brothers’ release, Sky News reports.
Erik and Lyle, convicted in 1996 for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, claim they acted out of fear due to years of sexual abuse by their father.
Hochman, however, cast doubt on their testimony, stating: “Sexual abuse in this situation may have been a motivation for Erik and Lyle to do what they did, but it does not constitute self-defense.”
The Menendez family condemned the decision as “abhorrent,” arguing it disregarded the trauma the brothers endured.
They stated: “Abuse does not exist in a vacuum. It leaves lasting scars, rewires the brain, and traps victims in cycles of fear and trauma.”
While the trial request has been denied, a March hearing on re-sentencing could still offer the Menendez brothers a path to parole after 35 years behind bars.
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