‘I find it disgusting’: Ryan Murphy hits out at Menéndez brothers for their criticism of Monsters
Ryan Murphy has called the Menéndez brothers “disgusting” and “reprehensible” for their reaction to Monsters. On 19 September, the second season of the crime-drama anthology series, sub-titled The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story, hit Netflix.
Based on the 1989 murders of José (Javier Bardem) and Kitty Menéndez (Chloë Sevigny), the series respectively stars Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch as Lyle and Erik.
Although the series was met with widespread critical acclaim for the performances, particularly Coch’s in episode five, it was criticised for depicting a somewhat incestuous relationship between the brothers.
Following the release of the series, Erik’s wife Tammi shared a statement on his behalf, in which he slammed 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,” he said. “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.” Lyle and Erik’s relatives also described it as a “phobic, gross, anachronistic, serial episodic nightmare”: “Our family has been victimized by this grotesque shockadrama. […] Perhaps, after all, Monsters is all about Ryan Murphy.” In a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Murphy said he and co-creator Ian Brennan “set out to do exactly what we wanted to do”.
