Ryan Murphy believes that the Menendez Brothers should be grateful that he gave light to their controversial 1989 case in the new Netflix show Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Since the show's Sept. 19 debut, the convicted murders' story has been repopularized, especially involving the August 1989 killing of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez. In a statement, per TODAY, family members of the Menendez brothers have condemned the show as "repulsive" and character assassination," and some even claimed to be "eyewitnesses" to the abuse that the brothers endured by their parents.
In response, Murphy has doubled down on co-creating the series, which has caused renewed interest in the brothers, along with a reopened case. Lyle, 56, and Erik, 53, are currently anticipating an appeal decision.
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Murphy shared that he and show co-creator Ian Brennan "set out to do exactly what we wanted to do."
"And I’ll tell you my thoughts about the Menendez brothers," Murphy continued. "The Menendez brothers should be sending me flowers. They haven’t had so much attention in 30 years. And it’s gotten the attention of not only this country but all over the world. There’s sort of an outpouring of interest in their lives and in the case."
"I know for a fact that many people have offered to help them because of the interest of my show and what we did," he asserted. "There is no world that we live in where the Menendez brothers or their wives or lawyers would say, 'You know what, that was a wonderful, accurate depiction of our clients.' That was never going to happen, and I wasn’t interested in that happening."
Murphy previously told People that the brothers' case should be "reexamined."
"If that case was tried and all of the evidence was allowed in today, I think they probably would’ve been charged and found guilty of manslaughter and they would be out of jail now," he told the outlet.
A similar knee-jerk reaction was made to Murphy's previous Monster miniseries on Jeffery Dahmer, with relatives and friends of the late serial killer's victims taking offense at their portrayals. But Murphy would later tell THR that after his team tried to contact the victims' families and friends for research, "not a single person responded."