Ryan Murphy says Menendez brothers 'should be sending me flowers' after show backlash

Ryan Murphy is not backing down as the Menendez brothers slam him for his version of their story .

The director's release of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story on Netflix came with loud backlash, including from Erik himself, who called some aspects of the project "dishonest." He even alleged that Ryan made key choices in order to falsely represent their story.

In response, Ryan doubled down on his work, claiming that Erik and Lyle should be thanking him. He told The Hollywood Reporter : "They haven’t had so much attention in 30 years. And it’s gotten the attention of not only this country, but all over the world. There’s sort of an outpouring of interest in their lives and in the case."

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Lyle and Erik are currently incarcerated after being found guilty for murdering their parents. The brothers claimed that they were being sexually abused by their father, which ultimately led to their actions. Erik confessed to his therapist about the crime and the psychologist later leaked the information to his mistress at the time. After it was reported to the cops, the pair was arrested. They've remained in prison since, although good behavior has afforded them a more comfortable time behind bars.

Given their current criminal circumstance, Ryan believes that he did them a service. He said: “I know for a fact that many people have offered to help them because of the interest of my show and what we did. There is no world that we live in where the Menendez brothers or their wives or lawyers would say, ‘You know what, that was a wonderful, accurate depiction of our clients.’ That was never going to happen, and I wasn’t interested in that happening.”

The show did gain international fame, even causing socialite Kim Kardashian to make a trip to jail to visit the siblings. While there, Kim and the brothers reportedly discussed prison reform, a cause that the men have championed while imprisoned. Moreover, there has been a public outcry for their release as viewers around the world took sympathy after hearing their story.

Nonetheless, Erik was dismayed by the production. He wrote in a statement shared by his wife, Tammi: "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. 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.”