Erik Menendez criticizes Netflix's “Monsters” for “dishonest portrayal”

Menendez, one half of the Menendez brothers who were convicted along with their brother Lyle Menendez of murdering their parents in their Beverly Hills, California, home in 1989, spoke out about the series. In a statement shared by his wife, Tammie Menendez called the series “a caricature of Lyle based on horrific and blatant lies” on social media Thursday night.

“I can only believe they were done that way on purpose,” he said in the statement. “It is with a heavy heart that I must say that I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be so naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives to do this without malicious intent.”

He continued, “It saddens me to know that Netflix's dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime has pushed painful truths back several steps – back to an era when prosecutors built their narrative on a belief system that said men were not sexually assaulted and that men experienced rape trauma differently than women.”

Menendez added in his statement that “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” and “how Murphy shapes his horrific story through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and me and disheartening slanders.” He later asked, “Is the truth not enough?” and thanked people for their support.