Monsters Producer Ryan Murphy Defends 'Depiction Of Incest' Between Menéndez Brothers After Backlash

Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menéndez and Cooper Koch as Erik Menéndez in the new season of Netflix's Monsters
Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menéndez and Cooper Koch as Erik Menéndez in the new season of Netflix's Monsters MILES CRIST/NETFLIX

Ryan Murphy has responded to some of the controversy surrounding the new season of his true crime show Monsters.

The latest instalment of the TV super-producer’s anthology series centres around the Menéndez brothers, who were convicted of murdering their parents in the late 1980s.

While the pair alleged during their trial that they were acting in self-defence after years of sexual and emotional abuse, the prosecution argued the siblings were motivated financially to kill their parents.

Since its debut last week, season two of Monsters has not moved from the top of Netflix’s list of most-watched TV shows, but it’s also come under its fair share of controversy.

In particular, scenes suggesting that Erik and Lyle Menéndez were at some point involved in a sexual relationship have been met with backlash, which Ryan himself has now addressed.

TV producer Ryan Murphy
TV producer Ryan Murphy via Associated Press

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ryan insisted this was a topic that he thinks “people are confused about”.

“If you watch the show, what the show is doing is presenting the points of view and theories from so many people who were involved in the case,” he explained. “Dominick Dunne [the journalist, portrayed in the show by Nathan Lane] wrote several articles talking about that theory, and how he thought that theory had validity.

“What we do in the show is, he talks about that, we are presenting his point of view just as we present [defence attorney] Leslie Abramson’s point of view. The show presents over 10 points of view of different events.

“So when people watch that and they say that, that is somebody in our show having a narrative statement about, ‘this is what I believe really happened’. And we had an obligation to show all of that, and we did.”

Monsters has also been criticised by Erik Menéndez, who accused the Netflix show of perpetuating “horrible and blatant lies” about himself and his brothers.

“I have many things to say about that, how long do you have?” Ryan joked, adding: “I think it’s interesting that he’s issued a statement without having seen the show. I know he hasn’t seen the show in prison, [but] I hope he does see the show.”

The Emmy winner continued: “I think it’s really, really hard, if it’s your life, to see your life up on screen. I think that it’s been around 30 years since that case, I think that’s hard.

“The thing that I find interesting that he doesn’t mention in his quote – and that nobody from that side of the aisle is talking about – is that if you watch the show, I would say 60-65% of our show, in the scripts and in the film form, centre around the abuse and what they claim happened to them. And we do it very carefully, and we give them their day in court, and they talk openly about it.”

(L-R) Lyle and Erik Menendez in court in 1990
(L-R) Lyle and Erik Menendez in court in 1990 via Associated Press

Season one of Monster centred around serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, and was similarly met with controversy upon its release in 2022.

Ryan Murphy has already confirmed that production on a third instalment is due to get underway next month, this time focussing on a different killer altogether.

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