Ryan Murphy on the Menendez brothers' retrial and the monster backlash

Ryan Murphy is pushing back against members of Erik and Lyle Menendez's family who have called Netflix's “Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez” a “grotesque shock drama.”

“The family’s reaction is predictable at best,” Murphy tells me, just hours after the family’s statement about Erik’s wife, Tammi, was posted on social media. “I find it interesting because I would like details about what they think is shocking or not shocking. It's not like we're making any of this up. Everything has been presented before. We are the first to present it in a closed ecosystem. What's grotesque about that? … Tammi (and) the family, they always have done this and they have been doing this lately – they say “lies after lies” – but they don't say what the lies are. They don’t secure anything.”

The Menendez brothers are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1989. The series dramatizes the murders and subsequent trials that ended with their conviction in 1996.

Murphy also shares that he believes “Monsters” is “the best thing that has happened to the Menendez brothers in 30 years.” He continues: “Millions of people around the world are now talking about it. A documentary about it will be released in two weeks, also on Netflix. And I think the interesting thing about this is that people have to answer the questions: “Should they get a new study?” Should they be released from prison? What is happening in our society? Should people be locked up for life? Is there no chance of rehabilitation at all?' This interests me and a lot of people talk about it. We are asking really tough questions and giving these brothers another trial in the court of public opinion. From what I can tell, it really opened up the possibility that this evidence that they say they have might provide a path forward for them.”

Murphy believes if the trial had taken place today, the brothers might have received a lesser manslaughter charge and a lighter sentence. “The second trial was a travesty. I think it's crazy that all the evidence that they claim actually took place was inadmissible,” he said. “This is a mistake. I consider the behavior of these male jurors to be an outrage. I think a lot of those jurors were homophobic. I think they refused to accept the idea that sexual abuse could happen to men. I find that outrageous. So what do I think? I think if there is new evidence it should be heard. Personally, I don’t think anyone should spend their entire life in prison.”

Cooper Koch, who plays Erik, tells exclusively diversity that he spoke to the real Erik for the first time the evening before the series premiered on Netflix. About a week later, he met Erik and Lyle when he visited their prison with Kim Kardashian to talk to inmates about prison reform.

Unlike Koch, Murphy said he never reached out to the brothers. “I have no interest in talking to them,” he says. “It's very good that Cooper has a relationship with them and of course I'm very close to Kim Kardashian, who spoke to them. I love Kim and I believe she is doing God's work. I believe in prison reform. I believe in everything she believes in. I don't know what I would tell them. What would I ask her? I know their perspective.”

Murphy also doesn't feel the need to stand up for Erik and Lyle like Koch said he would. “I believe in justice, but I don’t believe in being part of this machine,” Murphy says. “That’s not my job. My job as an artist was to tell a perspective in a particular story. I feel like I did, but I wish them well.”