Ryan Murphy Responds to Erik Menendez’s Criticism of ‘Monsters’: ‘I’m Used to This’

Three days after Erik Menendez slammed the new true crime series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, creator Ryan Murphy responded to his complaints.

“I know he hasn’t watched the show, so I find that curious. I know this for a fact,” Ryan, 58, told E! News about Erik’s comments during the Monday, September 23, premiere of Grotesquerie. “I hope he does watch it. I think if he did watch it, he would be incredibly proud of Cooper Koch, who plays him.”

After noting that he thinks Monsters is “very interesting,” Ryan explained his and cocreator Ian Brennan’s intent behind the project. “What we’re trying to do is show many, many, many, many perspectives,” he said. “In every episode, you are given a new theory based on people who were either involved or covered the case.”

Ryan then admitted that not every theory portrayed will be received positively, especially when it comes to Erik, 53, and his brother, Lyle Menendez. For example, one theory in the series includes speculation that the brothers had an alleged ​​incestuous relationship.

“There are people who say that never happened,” the Glee creator said. “There were people who said it did happen.”

Erik and Lyle were convicted in 1996 for the murder of their parents, José and Mary Louse “Kitty” Menéndez, in 1989. Prosecution argued that the brothers killed José and Kitty in order to get the family’s fortune. However, Erik and Lyle, 56, claimed they murdered their parents in self-defense after experiencing years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

Since Lyle and Erik’s trial has been highly publicized, Ryan pointed out that many people “know how it ended.”

“We know two people were brutally shot. Our view and what we wanted to do was present you all the facts and have you do two things: Make up your own mind about who’s innocent, who’s guilty, and who’s the monster, and also have a conversation about something that’s never talked about in our culture, which is male sexual abuse, which we do responsibly,” Ryan told the outlet.

Ryan explained that the show heavily “centers around Erik and Lyle Menendez talking about their abuse, talking about their victimization, talking about what it emotionally put them through.”

“I’m used to this,” he concluded about the backlash he received from Erik. “I write about provocative things and controversial things, and my motto is ‘never complain and never explain.’”

After the true crime series premiered on Netflix on September 19, Erik’s wife, Tammi Menéndez, issued a statement on his behalf via X.

“I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show,” the statement, which was posted on September 19, read. “I can only believe they were done so on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.”

He continued, “It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women.”

Erik added that Ryan “shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and me and disheartening slander.”

“Is the truth not enough? Let the truth stand as the truth. How demoralizing is it to know that one man with power can undermine decades of progress in shedding light on childhood trauma,” Erik noted before thanking those who “have reached out and supported” him.