Lyle and Erik Menendez are now changing their tune regarding Ryan Murphy‘s Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story.
After Erik previously slammed the Netflix series, which was released in September last year, Lyle recently shared on TMZ‘s 2 Angry Men podcast that Monsters “really did actually move a lot of people to understand the childhood trauma that Erik and I suffered.”
The true-crime drama chronicles the case of real-life brothers, Lyle and Erik, who were convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez.
Lyle noted that they “were able to see quite a bit of” the nine-episode series, as well as “seen a million clips of it on TV and heard a lot about it.”
“To me, it’s just a funny thing — the media and Ryan Murphy’s project was very widely disseminated, and it 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,” he continued.
Lyle went on to call Nicholas Chavez’s portal of himself and Cooper Koch’s portrayal of Erik “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. “So, I think it opened a lot of people’s eyes, and that’s always a good thing. You know, abuse, like my brother touched on, it expands, it requires being in the shadows of society. Because once you bring a spotlight on it, the bullying and the trauma tend to find healing or find recourse.”
Lyle concluded, “And so, I feel like shining a light on it — Ryan Murphy did his project and ended up doing that. And so, in that way, I think we are grateful.”
Shortly after Monsters dropped on Netflix, Erik released a statement saying the show’s “dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward.” He added at the time, “Now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander.”
Murphy later defended his series, saying, “The thing that I find interesting that [Erik] 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 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. In this age, where people can really talk about sexual abuse, talking about it and writing about it and writing about all points of view can be controversial.”
The Menendez brothers, who have served 35 years in prison, are also looking for a path to freedom with newfound evidence, discussions of gubernatorial clemency and an upcoming resentencing initiated by Los Angeles’ ousted district attorney. However, on Friday, new DA Nathan Hochman said he opposes a new trial for Lyle and Erik in the 1989 killing of their parents but hasn’t made up his mind on whether to support a resentencing bid.
