The creator of the Menendez drama defends himself against the family’s criticism

Ryan Murphy, the creator of the Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” called her family’s negative reaction to the drama about two brothers who killed their parents “predictable at best.”

Members of the Menendez brothers’ family said the couple were “victims of this grotesque shock drama,” adding that the show was “full of falsehoods.”

Murphy told Variety that her answer was “interesting because I would like details about what they think is shocking or not shocking. It’s not like we’re making any of this up. It’s all been presented before.”

He added that the family “isn’t saying what the lies are, they don’t prove anything,” and that his drama is the first to present the story “in a closed ecosystem.”

The family’s statement also said: “The character assassination of Erik and Lyle, our nephews and cousins, under the guise of ‘storytelling’ is disgusting.”

They added: “We love them and remain close to them to this day. We also know what went on in their home and what an unimaginably turbulent life they went through.”

“Some of us were eyewitnesses to many atrocities that should never be witnessed.”

The brothers, 18 and 21 at the time of the 1989 murders, shot their wealthy parents Jose and Kitty Menendez at point-blank range in their Beverly Hills mansion.

Prosecutors argued during the high-profile trial that the young men killed their successful parents to inherit their multimillion-dollar fortune. But the brothers’ defense attorneys said it was revenge for sexual abuse, even though abuse was never proven in court.

The trial began in 1993, resulting in two deadlocked jurors in 1994 before the case was retried in 1995 when the judge excluded evidence of abuse from his defense.

A jury found them guilty and the pair were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The brothers reunited in prison in 2018.

The series stars Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez as brothers and Javier Bardem and Chloe Sevigny as their parents.

Murphy is also a director, writer and producer on series such as “Glee”, “Pose”, “The Watcher”, “Feud”, “American Horror Story”, “Hollywood” and “Ratched” and created “Monsters” with Ian Brennan , the co-creator of “Glee.”

The series reportedly received 12.3 million views in its first weekend of release. However, it is unknown how many individual viewers or households that is, as it is spread across the nine episodes.

Murphy said the series was “the best thing to happen to the Menendez brothers in 30 years,” Variety reported.

“They are now discussed by millions of people around the world. A documentary about her will be released in two weeks, also on Netflix.

He added that there are “really difficult questions” such as whether they should get a new trial, whether they should be released, whether people should be locked up for life and “is there no chance of rehabilitation at all?”

“It gives these brothers another trial in the court of public opinion. From what I can tell, it really opened up the possibility that maybe there is a way forward for them with the evidence they say they have.”

The producer added that he believes the brothers may have received a lesser manslaughter charge and a lighter sentence if the trial had taken place today.

Cooper Koch, who plays Erik, told Variety on Thursday that he spoke to him for the first time the night before Netflix released the series.

The actor also said he met both brothers about a week later and visited inmates with Kim Kardashian to talk about prison reform.

Kardashian already visits prisons to learn about rehabilitation programs, which she shares on her shows.

But Murphy told Variety he has “no interest” in speaking to the brothers, although he thinks it’s “very good” that Koch has a relationship with them and believes Kardashian is “doing God’s work.” .

“I believe in everything she believes in. I don’t know what I would tell them. What would I ask her? I know their perspective,” he added.