The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ Controversy, Explained

Topline

Ryan Murphy said his new Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” based on the 1989 killings of José and Kitty Menendez by their sons, shows the points of view of “so many people who were involved in the case,” defending it from critics who questioned the show’s apparent portrayal of the brothers as having an incestuous relationship.

Ryan Murphy and the cast of Netflix’s “Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story.” (Photo by Steve … [+] Granitz/FilmMagic)

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Key Facts

Murphy, who created the series and wrote several episodes, told Entertainment Tonight he was surprised Erik Menendez slammed the series through a statement posted on his wife Tammi Menendez’s X account, stating Menendez likely wouldn’t have been able to watch the show from prison.

Murphy defended the series portrayal of the Menendez brothers having an apparently incestuous relationship, stating journalist Dominick Dunne, portrayed by Nathan Lane in the show, suggested this theory in his coverage of the trial (though reports say Dunne did not espouse this theory in his coverage).

Murphy acknowledged it may be hard for the Menendez brothers to see their trial rehashed on screen, but estimated between 60% and 65% of the show depicts the trial through the brothers’ perspectives.

Some social media users have criticized the series for scenes that imply that the brothers, who in real life are serving life sentences in prison for killing their mother and father, whom they allege sexually abused them, had an incestuous relationship.

In the series’ second episode, the brothers kiss on the lips in one scene in which they discuss their future plans, and later in that episode, the two dance closely while caressing each other’s faces at a party, receiving confused and disgusted looks from other partygoers.

One post on X, formerly known as Twitter, liked more than 100,000 times, slammed the series for portraying the brothers as an “incestuous fantasy,” while another liked more than 80,000 times said “creating incest fanfiction of real life brothers is INSANE.”

During a 1995 retrial, Lyle testified he had molested Erik while they were children, though in the series, their interactions are portrayed while they are adults and as apparently consensual acts.

What Have The Menendez Brothers Said?

Erik Menendez slammed the “Monsters” series as a “dishonest portrayal” of their story “rooted in horrible and blatant lies,” according to his statement. Menendez alleged Murphy had misrepresented him and his brother with “bad intent,” stating Murphy could not be “this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives.” Menendez said the show harkens 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.”

What To Watch For

Netflix unveiled a trailer Monday morning for a forthcoming documentary, “The Menendez Brothers,” set to release on Oct. 7. Both Menendez brothers participate in the documentary through phone interviews conducted while in prison, which Netflix says is the first time the brothers have spoken about the killing of their parents in 30 years. In the trailer, the brothers say “so much hasn’t been told” about their story, and they say the media had controlled the narrative instead of the brothers themselves. The project, directed by Alejandro Hartmann and produced by Campfire Studios, also includes interviews with lawyers involved in the Menendez brothers’ trial and journalists who covered the case.

Chief Critics

The series has received mixed reviews from critics, with many faulting what they call an uneven tone they say vacillates between campiness and the seriousness of a real-life murder case. Variety called the tone “unwieldy” in a largely negative review, stating it “teeters between ominous and light camp” and includes “overdone homoeroticism” (Both brothers said during the trial they are not gay). In a three-star review, The Independent called the series the “best and worst of Ryan Murphy,” who is known for hit television series like “American Crime Story” and “American Horror Story,” stating whether his efforts are “interrogative or just flat-out exploitative can be pretty hit and miss,” opining that “Monsters” lands somewhere in the middle. The Hollywood Reporter said the series comes close to “cheapening either two brutal deaths or a decade of molestation, all in the name of rehashing a case that has been amply rehashed over the years.”

Key Background

Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 for shooting and killing their parents in 1989, when they were 21 and 18 years old, respectively. The brothers faced two trials—the first in 1993, when they were tried separately, which ended in two hung juries, and a second that began in 1995, when they were tried together and convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder. The brothers argued the killings were self-defense, alleging they had endured years of sexual and physical abuse by their father. Prosecutors argued the brothers had killed their parents to inherit their wealth, citing large purchases they made after the killings, like a Rolex and a Porsche Carrera. The first trial, which was televised, attracted significant media attention, and the trial also went viral on TikTok in 2021, with many Gen Z users advocating for their release, The New York Times reported.

Where Are The Menendez Brothers Now?

Both brothers are incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, serving life without the possibility of parole. Lawyers representing the brothers filed a petition to the Los Angeles County Superior Court last year, seeking a new hearing citing recently discovered evidence—a letter the attorneys say was written by Erik eight months before the murders, discussing his father’s alleged sexual abuse.

Surprising Fact

Kim Kardashian and actor Cooper Koch, who plays Erik Menendez in the “Monsters” series, visited the Menendez brothers in their San Diego prison, as well as other inmates, on Saturday to speak about prison reform. Though it’s unclear what they discussed, Kardashian has regularly visited prisons for several years and met with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House earlier this year to discuss criminal justice reform.

Tangent

Murphy’s predecessor series, “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” also attracted controversies, with the families of Dahmer’s victims slamming it for opening old wounds. “This is not just a story or historical fact, these are real people’s lives,” Eric Perry, a relative of Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey, told the Los Angeles Times. “I don’t need to watch it, I lived it,” Lindsey’s sister Rita Isbell wrote in a piece for Insider, slamming Netflix for not asking the families of Dahmer’s victims “if we mind or how we felt about making it.” The series garnered mixed reviews, earning a 57% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the controversies, the series received 13 nominations at the postponed 75th Emmy Awards held in January 2024, winning one for Niecy Nash’s supporting role.