Ryan Murphy responded to Erik Menéndez’s criticism over his latest work for Netflix, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story.
The 58-year-old executive producer and creator of the Netflix true crime drama defended his portrayal of Erik, 53, and his 56-year-old brother Lyle Menéndez and their crimes after the former lambasted the platform for its depiction of their lives.
When questioned about his reaction to the statement, Murphy addressed Entertainment Tonight that he had “many things to say about that.”
“I think it’s interesting that [Erik] issued a statement without having seen the show,” he said. “I know he hasn’t seen the show in prison. I hope he does see the show. I think he sees the work that Cooper Koch [the actor who plays him] did.”
The Emmy Award-winning writer empathised that it must be “really, really hard” to see “your life up on screen.”
“If you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65 percent of our show, in the scripts and in the film form, center around the abuse and what they claim happened to them,” he explained.
“We do it very carefully, and we give them their day in court, and they talk openly about it, we present the facts from their point of view.”
Murphy said he and his team invested three years studying the Menéndez brothers and their story. He also mentioned that writing on sexual abuse for television and portraying “all points of view” can be controversial.