Erik Menendez slams Ryan Murphy's Monsters; calls it 'dishonest portrayal'

Erik Menendez has come forward to express his disappointment with his portrayal in Ryan Murphy's latest true-crime anthology series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. The series premiered on Netflix on Thursday.

In a statement shared on Lyle's Facebook page, Erik called out the series' "inaccurate" depiction of the trial he and his brother underwent in 1989 for the murders of their parents José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez.

"I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant likes rampant in the show," said Erik. "I can only believe they were done so on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent."

"It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime had taken the painful truths several steps backwards — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women," he continued. "Those awful lies have been disrupted and exposed by countless brave victims over the last two decades who have broken through their personal shame and bravely spoken out."

"So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander. Is the truth not enough?" concluded Erik.

The series features Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Kochas Lyle and Erik Menéndez. It also stars Javier Bardem, Chloë Sevigny, Nathan Lane and Ari Graynor.

For those unaware, Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents. They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.