Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story cast respond to brother’s criticism

Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Chloe Sevigny, Javier Bardem and Cooper Koch play the Menendez family in Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Photo / Netflix

Warning: Mentions sexual and physical abuse.

The stars of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story have spoken out after the real Erik Menendez branded the Netflix miniseries “naïve and inaccurate”.

The controversial anthology series chronicles the conviction of brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez for the 1989 murders of their parents, José Menendez and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez. The siblings were both sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996.

It is the second season of the Netflix biographical crime drama series Monster - created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan - following the first Jeffrey Dahmer-focused instalment, Dahmer, in 2022.

But the real-life Erik had strong words for the season, which premiered on September 19. In a statement following its release, the now 53-year-old called Monsters a “dishonest portrayal of the tragedies”.

His negative assessment “definitely affected” Cooper Koch, the 28-year-old actor who portrays Erik in the project.

In an interview with Variety published on September 25, Koch said he “sympathises and empathises” with the man behind his on-screen character.

“I get it. I understand how difficult it would be to have the worst part of your life be televised for millions of people to see. It’s so exposing. I understand how he feels and I stand by him,” Koch told the outlet, adding he had tried his hardest to “really portray [Erik] with integrity”.

“I just really wanted to do as much research and dig really deep into myself, and just be as authentic as possible to support him and also to support his family and all the people who stand with him.”

However, Nathan Lane - who played journalist Dominick Dunne - said he didn’t put too much stock in Menendez’s reaction considering the convicted murderer hadn’t actually watched the series.

“He’s just criticising it and condemning it without ever having seen it, so one has to take that with a grain of salt,” Lane said. “Obviously, to have your life portrayed this way in a Netflix miniseries … he wasn’t one of the producers, so not everything might be flattering or make you happy. But I would say you should probably see it before you speak out again.”

Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Cooper Koch and Javier Bardem in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Photo / Netflix

Javier Bardem, who portrayed family patriarch José Menendez, felt similarly to co-star Koch, revealing he empathised with Erik’s response to the series.

“I know he has spoken, but I haven’t read it,” he said. “But of course, it’s absolutely normal, logical and legitimate to say what you think about your own life being on a show. I support that.

“Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan give different perspectives, different views of the same issue because nothing is set in stone. That also includes the way to perform the character. We have to be open as actors to play and shift from one perspective to the other, depending on who is telling the story.”

Show creator Murphy had previously pushed back against Erik’s criticism, saying he stands by the show telling “many, many, many, many perspectives”.

“In every episode, you are given a new theory based on people who were either involved or covered the case,” he said. “Two of them are dead. What about the parents? We had an obligation as storytellers to also try and put in their perspective based on our research, which we did.”

The brothers, who alleged they had been physically and sexually abused by their parents in the years prior to the killings, are set to tell their side of the story in the upcoming documentary The Menendez Brothers, slated for a Netflix release on October 7.

“Everyone asks why we killed our parents,” Lyle said via telephone from prison in the trailer for the documentary, released on September 23. “Maybe now people can understand the truth.”

Erik Menendez with his attorney Leslie Abramson and his brother Lyle Menendez during the trial on March 9, 1994. Photo / Ted Soqui / Sygma via Getty Images

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story dramatises the lives of Erik and Lyle and explores their possible motives for murder, including their claims of abuse and prosecutors’ suggestions that the slayings were a money grab.

Erik and Lyle were just 18 and 21 respectively on August 20, 1989, when the brothers called 911 claiming they had discovered their parents shot to death in the living room of their Beverly Hills mansion. Their father had been shot six times, including once in the back of his head, and their mother had been shot 10 times, including in her face, according to police.

At first, the brothers told authorities they believed the mafia had killed their parents due to one of their father’s dodgy business dealings.

Following the deaths, the brothers were given a portion of their family’s US$14 million ($22.3m) estate - US$700,000 of which they spent in about six months on real estate, luxury items and tennis lessons.

Lyle was arrested on March 8, 1990, and Erik turned himself in three days later. The brothers, who were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, admitted killing their parents during their testimonies, but claimed it was self-defence. Both alleged their father had physically and sexually abused them for years, while their mother ignored it.

After two criminal trials - one of the first to be broadcast on cable television - the siblings were sentenced to life without parole in a case that became a national sensation, captivating American viewers.

However, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story has proved controversial since its launch, drawing mixed reviews from critics and audiences. In his review, Variety chief TV critic Aramide Tinubu sid the series “has no idea what it wants to be. Therefore, it just dissolves into a retelling of unspeakable abuses and gruesome crimes.”

At the time of writing, the series has a 44% approval rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 18 reviews. In his review, Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson said while “some tonal inconsistency is understandable ... Brennan and Murphy push past that, into the realm of incoherence”.

The nine-episode series stars Koch as Erik, Nicholas Chavez as Lyle, Bardem as Jose Menendez and Chloë Sevigny as Kitty Menendez.

In 2023, the brothers’ lawyers filed a petition asking the court to revisit the case, according to the Los Angeles Times. Their lawyers suggested new evidence supports the claim their father was abusive and a paedophile; the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office told CBS’ 48 Hours in March it was still investigating the allegations.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is screening on Netflix now.