Nicholas Alexander Chavez, star of Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendezsaid he understands why the real Erik Menendez is unhappy with the hit Netflix series.
Chavez told USA Today he felt “sympathy and empathy” for Menendez, who claimed Ryan Murphy’s drama was “heinous and horrific” in its portrayal of the August 1989 murder of the couple’s parents.
“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,” said Chavez, who plays Lyle in the nine-part series.
Erik Menendez’ statement about Monsterwhich his wife Tammi Menendez shared on social media, criticized the portrayal of Lyle in particular, saying it was “a caricature of Lyle based on horrific and blatant lies that were rampant on the show.”
Speech at the premiere of grotesqueChavez explained the work that went into his role, including reading books, watching documentaries and reviewing court footage. “With the court footage on TV, you get a glimpse of what happened back then, but the show aims to provide a lot more detail than just the courtroom scenes,” he said.
Erik’s statement continued: “It saddens me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime pushes painful truths back several steps – back to an era when the prosecution built its narrative on a belief system that said men were not sexually assaulted and that men experienced rape trauma differently than women.
“These horrific lies have been refuted and exposed over the past two decades by countless brave victims who have overcome their personal shame and courageously spoken out about it. And now Murphy is shaping his horrific narrative through vile and horrifying character portrayals of Lyle and me and disheartening slanders.”
Murphy also responded to Erik’s statement in grotesque Premiere, questioned his comments on Monster if he “hasn’t seen the show.”
Murphy added: “We know that two people were brutally shot. Our position and our goal was to present you with all the facts and get you to do two things: make up your own mind about who is innocent, who is guilty and who is the monster, and also have a conversation about something that is never talked about in our culture, which is sexual abuse of men, and we do that responsibly.”
Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez debuted on September 18 and topped the Netflix charts, reaching 12.3 million views in its opening weekend. The series stars Cooper Koch as Erik, Javier Bardem as José, Chloë Sevigny as Kitty, Nathan Lane as Dominick Dunne, and Ari Graynor as Leslie Abramson.
