Though it may feel like a MCU-level cameo of headline-grabbing names from the ’90s, one of the most surprising claims of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” is true. Erik Menendez did actually know O.J. Simpson, at least for a brief time.
Their meeting happened in June of 1994, shortly after Simpson was arrested following his infamous Bronco chase. By that point, both brothers had been imprisoned for over four years.
Here’s everything we know about this stranger-than-fiction meeting and how “Monsters” retelling of it compares to other times Simpson has appeared in Ryan Murphy’s work.
Did the Menendez brothers know O.J. Simpson?
Just like in the Netflix series, Erik Menendez really was cell neighbors with O.J. Simpson. In Robert Rand’s “The Menendez Murders,” Erik said that he didn’t see Simpson cry during his first night but that he could hear him “moaning.” The two struck up an unlikely friendship with Erik giving Simpson advice on how to survive in prison, such as telling him not to discuss his case with the guards and warning Simpson about the media. Erik recalled that Simpson initially thought he would get out of prison in just a few weeks and called the other man “real delusional.”
Overall, Erik seemed to have a great deal of sympathy for Simpson. When asked about the infamous Bronco chase, Erik told Rand that watching it was “very depressing, very sad.”
“I almost cried when his suicide letter was read on TV,” Erik said. The Menendez brother even wrote Simpson a long letter to console him.
At the same time, Erik also became frustrated when people linked their cases. District attorney Gil Garcetti was the first to do so, stating that it wouldn’t surprise him if Simpson originally denied his charges before doubling back and admitting to the crimes like in the Menendez case. Erik described those comparisons as “really aggravating.”
After a week, Erik Menendez was moved away to a different cell, thus ending the brief friendship between two of the biggest true crime figures in the ’90s.
Who plays O.J. Simpson in “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”?
Though he never actually appears on screen, Trae Ireland provides the voice of Simpson in the Netflix original. Previously, Ireland produced “Death at a Funeral” and “Armored.”
This isn’t the first time O.J. Simpson has appeared in a Ryan Murphy project. Previously, the football star was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. in FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.” That 2016 series also saw John Travolta play Robert Shapiro, a role that was played by Salvator Xuereb of “Big Stan” and “9-1-1” in “Monsters.”
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