Though a great deal of ink has been spilled about how Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s series could impact the Menendez brothers, the siblings in question are ultimately happy with “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” This comes after Erik had previously called the Netflix original “inaccurate” and “dishonest.”
“I think it opened a lot of people’s eyes, and that’s always a good thing,” Lyle said during the latest episode of TMZ’s “2 Angry Men” podcast. “In that way, I think we are grateful.”
Lyle further noted that he and Erik have not yet seen the nine-episode Netflix series. However, they have seen clips of Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez’s portrayals of them. The real Lyle even praised Coch’s performance as his brother as “pretty extraordinary.”
“The media and Ryan Murphy’s project was very widely disseminated, and it really did actually move a lot of people to understand the childhood trauma that Erik and I suffered and, particularly, the horrific stuff that Erik suffered,” he said.
Both brothers emphasized that they have changed during their decades in prison, with Erik noting that he was a “spoiled brat” during his trials in 1993 and 1995.
“I had deep insecurity issues and tried to hide those issues. I was taught that you do it through the best clothes or the best car or whatever — those things that we know are completely dysfunctional and, frankly, a sign of internal pain,” he said. “I look back, and I’m so ashamed and embarrassed about even the little things that I did in life.”
Yet during his time behind bars, Erik met his spouse Tammi Saccoman, fathered a child and began to grapple with his own self-loathing. “That was a really important journey for me, and that, frankly, is what has given me hope,” Erik shared.
If released from prison, both brothers plan to continue to advocate for victims of severe childhood trauma. “There should be no reason that that the victims of such tremendous childhood trauma are trapped in that shame and silence that I was trapped in for decades,” Erik added. “I am passionate about wanting to speak out and work with survivors of childhood trauma and find new ways for us to heal, speak out and prevent that type of trauma from happening to other people.”
In 2023, former Menudo member Roy Rosselló claimed that the brothers’ father, José Menendez, drugged and raped him when he was 14 years old. Based on that allegation, former L.A. District Attorney George Gascón asked the court for a resentencing of the case with a possibility of parole. The resentencing case was originally scheduled for December of 2024 before it was pushed back, first due to the results of a court hearing and a second time due to the L.A. wildfires. The hearing is now expected to take place on March 20.
“My brother and I are cautiously hopeful,” Lyle said. “We’re just trying not to go a little crazy in the interim.” Watch the full interview, above.
