Current:Home > BackRyan Murphy Says Lyle and Erik Menendez Should Be "Sending Me Flowers" Amid Series Backlash-LoTradeCoin
Ryan Murphy Says Lyle and Erik Menendez Should Be "Sending Me Flowers" Amid Series Backlash
View Date:2024-12-23 23:49:42
Ryan Murphy has no regrets when it comes to his work.
Two weeks after Erik Menendez slammed the Netflix true crime series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story for its portrayal of his and his older brother Lyle Menendez's conviction for the 1989 murders of their parents José and Kitty Menendez, the show's co-creator believes the pair should be grateful rather than "playing the victim card."
"The Menendez brothers should be sending me flowers," Ryan told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Oct. 1. "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 an outpouring of interest in their lives and the case. I know for a fact that many people have offered to help them because of the interest of my show and what we did."
He emphasized that the show, which he developed with Ian Brennan, wasn't meant to focus only on the siblings but also their parents, their defense team and the journalists who covered the story at the time.
(In the show, Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez star as Erik and Lyle, respectively, with Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny as their parents.)
"The thing that the Menendez brothers and their people neglect is that we were telling a story that was a very broad canvas," the 58-year-old said. "We had an obligation to so many people, not just to Erik and Lyle. But that's what I find so fascinating; that they're playing the victim card right now—'poor, pitiful us'—which I find reprehensible and disgusting."
In 1996, after two trials, Erik and Lyle were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder for the killings of their parents. While prosecutors said their motivation for the murders was to inherit their family fortune, the brothers alleged that their mom and dad physically, emotionally and sexually abused them for years. Their legal team argued the killings were in self-defense.
"I also think that two things can be true at the same time," Ryan continued. "I think they could have killed their parents, and also had been abused. They could have been of ambiguous moral character as young people, and be rehabilitated now. So I think that story is complicated."
E! News has reached out to attorneys for the Menendez brothers and has not yet heard back.
Meanwhile, the American Horror Story creator said he achieved what he had sought with the Netflix series and hopes Erik will take some time to view it.
"I think if he did watch it, he would be incredibly proud of Cooper, who plays him," Ryan told E! News last month. "I think the show is very interesting—what we're trying to do is show many, many, many, many perspectives."
But Erik was less than impressed with the depiction.
"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," Erik said in a statement shared to X, formerly Twitter, by his wife Tammi Menendez last month. "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."
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (9323)
Related
- College Football Playoff ranking release: Army, Georgia lead winners and losers
- Democrat April McClain Delaney wins a US House seat in a competitive Maryland race
- Officer responding to domestic disturbance fires weapon; woman and child are dead in Missouri suburb
- Yellowstone Cast Reveals “Challenging” Series End Without Kevin Costner
- Ford agrees to pay up to $165 million penalty to US government for moving too slowly on recalls
- No. 4 Miami upset by Georgia Tech in loss that shakes up College Football Playoff race
- 'Just a shock': NC State student arrested after string of 12 shootings damaging homes and vehicles
- How To Score the Viral Quilted Carryall Bag for Just $18
- Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger welcome their first son together
- Judith Jamison, transcendent dancer and artistic director of Alvin Ailey company, dies at 81
Ranking
- Alexandra Daddario shares first postpartum photo of baby: 'Women's bodies are amazing'
- Nico Iamaleava injury update: Why did Tennessee QB leave game vs. Mississippi State?
- Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia sues NCAA over eligibility limits for former JUCO players
- FBI, Justice Department investigating racist mass texts sent following the election
- Jack Del Rio leaving Wisconsin’s staff after arrest on charge of operating vehicle while intoxicated
- Why Ariana Grande’s Brother Frankie Grande Broke Down in Tears Over Her Wicked Casting
- LGBTQ+ hotlines experience influx in crisis calls amid 2024 presidential election
- Federal Regulators Inspect a Mine and the Site of a Fatal Home Explosion Above It
Recommendation
-
When do new 'Yellowstone' episodes come out? Here's the Season 5, Part 2 episode schedule
-
Haul out the holly! Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree arrives in New York City
-
Pretty Little Liars' Brant Daugherty Reveals Which NSFW Movie He Hopes His Kids Don't See
-
Hockey Hall of Fame inductions: Who's going in, how to watch
-
Jerry Jones lashes out at question about sun's glare at AT&T Stadium after Cowboys' loss
-
Gov. Tim Walz vows to fight Donald Trump’s agenda while working to understand his appeal
-
How To Score the Viral Quilted Carryall Bag for Just $18
-
Bribery case adds to problems in Mississippi city with water woes and policing disputes