Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the series centers on Erik and his older brother, Lyle Menendez, who shot and killed their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in 1989.
Koch said that he and Erik recognized each other almost immediately during a visit to Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, where both brothers are serving life sentences.
"We walked in the [prison's] gymnasium, and the first person that I saw was Erik. And we locked eyes, and he smiled and I smiled, and we hugged each other," Koch said. "And it was really, really powerful and emotional. It was an amazing experience."
The actor noted that both Erik and his elder brother, who was also present, "were so kind" and "so normal."
While Erik told Koch that he had yet to watch the series, he praised the actor for his performance.
"One of the first things Erik said was, 'I know you're doing great. You did a great job in episode five ["The Hurt Man"] and I'm going to watch it. I just, you know, it's difficult,'" Koch said.
The show's fifth episode sees Erik open up about his father's alleged sexual abuse. The brothers claimed during their high-profile trial that they killed their parents in self-defense after suffering from years of abuse.
"I spoke to him about it, which was insane for me," Koch said.
As THR reported, Koch's visit with the Menendez brothers was arranged by Kardashian, who has been pursuing a law degree and who has advocated for criminal justice reform.
Kardashian FaceTime called Koch to set up the visit just days before it happened, per THR.
As Business Insider previously reported , "The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" takes some dramatic license with the brothers' personal lives and streamlines some of the legal proceedings to fit the limited series.
As the series was released, Tammi Menendez , Erik's wife, shared a statement on X on behalf of her husband, criticizing the show for "creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies."
"I think it's interesting that he's issued a statement without having seen the show," he said, adding: "It's really, really hard — if it's your life — to see your life up on screen."
But earlier this week, Tammi shared an additional statement on X that she said was from the Menendez family.
"Ryan Murphy's 'Monsters: the Lyle and Erik Story' is a phobic, gross, anachronistic, serial episodic nightmare that is not only riddled with mistruths and outright falsehoods but ignores the most recent exculpatory revelations," it said.
According to Koch, he and Erik spoke about the backlash the show has received for certain creative decisions.
"I spoke to him about his statement," Koch told THR. "And, you know, I just told him that I understand where he's coming from. I feel for him."
"I can't imagine what it must be like to have the worst parts of your life be portrayed on television in this fictionalized, dramatized way, you know, and so I just told him that I stand with him," he continued. "I understand how that must feel and that it's really difficult."
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.