Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story showrunner Ryan Murphy and actor Nicholas Chavez have now responded to the Menéndez brothers' backlash about the series.
During a red carpet event for his new FX series, Grotesquerie, Murphy was asked by Entertainment Tonight's Rachel Smith to comment on that negative response.
"I have many things to say about that. How long do you have?" the writer and producer started. "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. I hope he does see the show [and] sees the work that Cooper Koch did."
Another reaction captured by ET came from Nicholas Chavez, who played Lyle Menéndez on Monster season 2. The actor explained:
"I empathize with the fact that it must be incredibly difficult to see some of the most painful moments of your life being portrayed on television."
Murphy also chimed in on the recent news that Koch visited the prison where the real-life Menéndez brothers are being held. That visit took place with none other than Kim Kardashian, who's been doing advocacy work for criminal justice reform for a few years now.
"Listen, I think it's really, really hard to see your life up on screen," Murphy noted. "It's been 30 years around since that case; I think that's hard."
Murphy went on:
"The thing that I find interesting that he doesn't mention in his quote — and that nobody from that side was talking about — is, if you watch the show, I'd say 60 to 65% of our show, in the scripts and in the film form, center around the abuse, and what they claim happened to them. We do it very carefully, we give them their day in court, and they talk openly about it."
"We present the facts from their point of view, largely. We spent three years researching it; all that is true," he added.
When asked by ET which sources Murphy used during his research process for The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, the showrunner replied:
"Just everything that we could find. I mean, I have such a huge team [when] I do these biopics. (…) What's interesting is, in this age where people can really talk about sexual abuse — which I didn't have when I was younger — that talking about it, and writing about it, and writing about all points of view, can be controversial."
"The interesting thing that I think about [this season of] Monsters is that it's a Rashomon kind of approach," Murphy highlighted. "There were four people involved in that, two of them are dead, and two of them are alive with [their] point of view. But what about the parents? We had an obligation [as] storytellers to also try and put in their perspective based on our research, which we did."
Murphy ultimately remarked on how "very proud" he is of the work and the acting in this second season of the Monster franchise on Netflix, adding: "I think Nicholas [Chavez], and Cooper [Koch], and Javier [Bardem], and Ari [Graynor], and Chloë [Sevigny], and Nathan Lane are just all incredible.
On the same red carpet, Chavez was asked if he'd like to meet with the real-life Menéndez brothers if given the opportunity to do so.
"My view is that, as an actor, you come in and you play a part. And then, at the end of the day, you need to have the grace to be able to say, 'That was a role that I played and it was a job that I had.' [But] then you need to let it go, and you need to move on to the next project."
(L-R) Cooper Koch and Nicholas Chavez in 'Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez.'
Netflix
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story also presents scenes of a very homoerotic relationship between the two Menéndez brothers. But when asked if he knows where that storyline came from, Chavez responded: "It's an interesting question. I don't know."
Murphy offered a more in-depth take on the question, saying:
"I think people are confused about that, too. 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. Dominick Dunne [played by Lane] wrote several articles talking about that theory and how he thought that theory had validity."
He continued, "What we do in the show is, he talks about that. We are presenting his point of view, just as we present Leslie Abramson's point of view. The show presents over 10 points of view of different events… so when people watch that, and they see that, that is somebody in our show having a narrative statement about, 'This is what I believe really happened.' We had an obligation to show all of that, and we did."
You can watch Entertainment Tonight's full interview with Murphy and Chavez below. You can also watch all episodes of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, which is now streaming on Netflix.
