Erik Menendez criticizes Ryan Murphy show for “caricature” of his brother
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” has drawn ire because of one of its protagonists.
Erik Menéndez is unhappy with a new Netflix show about him and his brother, and one of the series’ stars is speaking out.
Nicholas Alexander Chavez, who plays Lyle Menéndez in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” spoke to USA TODAY on Monday after Erik Menéndez wrote a statement harshly criticizing the series. At the premiere of Murphy’s latest series, “Grotesquerie,” the 25-year-old actor responded with an expression of compassion.
“I can only respond with sympathy and empathy because I can only imagine how difficult it is to see the most traumatic moment of your life on the screen where everyone can see it,” he told USA TODAY.
In 1996, Lyle and Erik Menéndez were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of their parents. The brothers claimed that their father, José Menéndez, had physically, sexually and emotionally abused them for years before the murders.
The Netflix series “Monsters” dramatizes their story in nine episodes and features Cooper Koch as Erik Menéndez and Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny as Lyle and Erik’s parents José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez. The series is a sequel to “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” starring Evan Peters.
Erik Menendez criticizes Ryan Murphy and Netflix for “dishonest portrayal” of his parents’ murders
Chavez also told USA TODAY that his research for “Monsters” was “extensive” and included reviewing documentaries and books about the Menéndez brothers, as well as watching court television recordings from the time.
“The court TV footage gives you an insight into what happened at the time, but the show aims to show a lot more detail than just the court scenes,” he said. “That’s what makes it interesting.”
Shortly after the debut of “Monsters,” Erik Menéndez criticized the show for its “horrific and blatant lies” in a statement released by his wife.
Did Lyle Menendez wear a hairpiece? Why it appears in a key scene in Netflix’s new “Monsters” series
“I can only believe they were done on purpose,” he said. “It is with a heavy heart that I have to say that I don’t think Ryan Murphy can be so naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives that he did this without malicious intent.”
Some viewers have criticized the show for promoting the idea that the Menéndez brothers had an incestuous relationship. In one scene, the two brothers kiss on the lips, while in another scene their mother bursts in on them taking a shower together. The latter scene is designed more as a theory about the case presented by journalist Dominick Dunne (Nathan Lane) than as an objective reality.
In his statement, Menéndez criticized Murphy for his “vile and appalling characterization of Lyle and me and his disheartening slander” and asked, “Is the truth not enough?”
Contributors: Jay Stahl
