Erik Menendez responds to Monsters series – says Ryan Murphy had "bad intent"
A statement from Erik was posted to his brother Lyle's Facebook page.
Ryan Murphy's crime anthology series Monsters released its second season last week, which dramatises the murders of José and Kitty Menendez by their sons Lyle and Erik in 1989.
Lyle and Erik claimed during their trial that they had killed their parents as an act of self-defence after years of abuse from both of them, but particularly from their father José, who they said they feared would kill them.
Now, the real-life Erik Menendez, who is currently serving a life sentence alongside his brother, has responded to the series, saying he believes Murphy went into the project with "bad intent" regarding the brothers' portrayals.
Lyle Menendez posted a statement from Erik on his Facebook page following the show's release, saying: "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."
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The statement 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.
"Those awful lies have been disrupted and exposed by countless brave victims over the last two decades who have been broken through their personal shame and bravely spoken out.
"So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander.
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"Is the truth not enough? Let the truth stand as the truth. How demoralising is it to know that one man with power can undermine decades of progress in shedding light on childhood trauma. Violence is never an answer, never a solution, and is always tragic.
"As such, I hope it is never forgotten that violence against a child creates a hundred horrendous and silent crime scenes darkly shadowed behind glitter and glamour and rarely exposed until tragedy penetrates everyone involved. To all those who have reached out and supported me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
RadioTimes.com has approached Ryan Murphy and Netflix for comment.
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Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story stars Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle and Cooper Koch as Erik, while José is played by Javier Bardem and Kitty is played by Chloë Sevigny.
The next season in the Monsters anthology is set to focus on serial killer Ed Gein, and it will star Sons of Anarchy actor Charlie Hunnam.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is now streaming on Netflix – sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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