Current:Home > NewsJohnathan Walker:Here's What Erik Menendez Really Thinks About Ryan Murphy's Menendez Brothers Series -VisionFunds
Johnathan Walker:Here's What Erik Menendez Really Thinks About Ryan Murphy's Menendez Brothers Series
Indexbit Exchange View
Date:2025-04-06 13:40:14
Erik Menendez is Johnathan Walkerspeaking out against Ryan Murphy's series about him and his brother Lyle Menendez, who are serving life sentences for murdering their parents in 1989.
Erik's shared his thoughts about Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story in a message his wife Tammi Menendez shared on X, formerly Twitter, Sept. 19, the day the show premiered on Netflix.
"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," Erik said. "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."
E! News has reached out to Murphy and Netflix for comment on the 53-year-old's remarks and has not heard back.
In Monsters, the second season of an crime drama anthology series that Murphy co-created with Ian Brennan, Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch play Lyle and Erik, respectively, while Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny portray the brothers' parents, José Menendez and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez.
In 1996, following two trials, Erik and Lyle, 56, were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder for the 1989 shotgun killings of their father and mother in their Beverly Hills home. The brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors had said Erik and Lyle's motivation for the murders stemmed from their desire to inherit the family fortune. The siblings had alleged their parents had physically, emotionally and sexually abused them for years and their legal team argued they killed their mother and father in self-defense.
"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," Erik said in his statement, "back though 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."
He continued, "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."
Erik added that "violence is never an answer, never a solution, and is always tragic."
"As such," he continued, "I hope it is never forgotten that violence against a child creates a hundred horrendous and silent crime scenes darkly shadowed behind glitter and glamor and rarely exposed until tragedy penetrates everyone involved."
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (574)
Related
- Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs appeals to get out of jail ahead of federal sex crimes trial
- From baby boomers to Gen Z, no one knows how to talk about sex. Here's why.
- Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor’s Daughter Ella Is All Grown Up During Appearance at Gala in NYC
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- Busy Moms Deserve These October Prime Day 2024 Beauty Essentials - Revlon, Laneige & More, Starting at $4
- Verizon says issue has been resolved after thousands reported outage Monday morning
- Tesla Cybertruck unveiled at California police department part of youth-outreach effort
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Al Roker reveals when he learned of Hoda Kotb's 'Today' exit, reflects on life as a grandfather
Ranking
- Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
- Al Roker reveals when he learned of Hoda Kotb's 'Today' exit, reflects on life as a grandfather
- Jennifer Lopez Breaks Silence on Ben Affleck Divorce
- This weatherman cried on air talking about Hurricane Milton. Why it matters.
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- Mega Millions winning numbers for October 8 drawing: Jackpot rises to $129 million
- Pilot of larger plane was looking away from smaller plane in Atlanta airport mishap, report says
- Nazi-looted Monet artwork returned to family generations later
Recommendation
New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
How to use iPhone emergency SOS satellite messaging feature to reach 911: Video tutorial
Duke Energy warns of over 1 million outages after Hurricane Milton hits
Acting or hosting, Travis Kelce wants to continue to pursue a showbiz career. But first, football
EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
Early in-person voting begins in Arizona, drawing visits from the presidential campaigns
Rudy Giuliani’s son says dad gifted him 4 World Series rings sought by Georgia election workers
Largest water utility company in the US says it was targeted by a cyberattack