Ryan Murphy Says the Menéndez Brothers ‘Should be Sending Me Flowers' amid Backlash OverMonstersRelease

Mar. 15, 2025

From left: Ryan Murphy, Erik and Lyle Menendez.Photo:Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; Los Angeles Times/Getty

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; Los Angeles Times/Getty

LyleandErik Menéndezmay not be thrilled with the seriesMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story,which is based on their lives,but the show’s co-creatorRyan Murphybelieves the two incarcerated brothers should see things differently.

Murphy toldThe Hollywood Reporteron Tuesday, Oct. 1 that he and co-creatorIan Brennan“set out to do exactly what we wanted to do.”

“The Menéndez brothers should be sending me flowers,” Murphy, 58, shared. “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. There’s sort of an outpouring of interest in their lives and in the case.”

“I know for a fact that many people have offered to help them because of the interest of my show and what we did,” he continued. “There is no world that we live in where the Menéndez brothers or their wives or lawyers would say, ‘You know what, that was a wonderful, accurate depiction of our clients.’ That was never going to happen, and I wasn’t interested in that happening.”

Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch in ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.'.Miles Crist/Netflix

Miles Crist/Netflix

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story —which premiered in September — revisits Lyle and Erik Menéndez’s lives and the murder of theirmom Kitty and dad José Menéndezin 1989. The two were tried separately in 1993 then again jointly in 1995, until they were convicted in 1996 for the murder of their parents and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

“I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted inhorrible and blatant liesrampant 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.”

Murphy, for his part, explained toThe Hollywood Reporterthat he and Brennan felt that they had an “obligation” to tell the stories of other people in the Erik and Lyle’s orbit, including their parents.

He also acknowledged that the brothers’ journey is complex, praising Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch for portraying Lyle and Erik respectively.

“Two things can be true at the same time,” Murphy explained. “I think they could have killed their parents, and also had been abused. They could have been of ambiguous moral character as young people, and be rehabilitated now. So I think that story is complicated. I’m thrilled with the reaction to it.I’m really thrilled with how people are responding to the performances, particularly of Cooper and Nicholas, who really killed themselves to do justice to those boys.”

He added: “I think Cooper and Nicholas are much more empathetic toward the Menéndez brothers than I am, but good. There’s room for all points of view.”

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Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Storyis now available to stream on Netflix.

source: people.com