Erik Menendez Plans to Watch Cooper Koch’s Monsters Episode in Prison

Erik Menéndez wants to watch Cooper Koch‘s portrayal of him — specifically in the critically acclaimed episode The Hurt Man — despite publicly denouncing Ryan Murphy‘s Monsters.

Koch, 28, recalled speaking with Menéndez, 53, about the show while visiting him in prison, telling The Hollywood Reporter on Saturday, September 28, “One of the first things Erik said was, ‘I know you’re doing great. You did a great job in episode five [The Hurt Man] and I’m going to watch it.”

Erik needed some time before watching Koch recreate him discussing the alleged abuse from his and brother Lyle Menéndez‘s parents: José and Kitty Menéndez.

“It’s difficult,’” Koch said Erik told him about the bottle episode that includes a single take lasting over half an hour. “And I spoke to him about it, which was insane for me.”

Season 2 of the hit Netflix series debuted earlier this month and chronicled Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Erik’s (Koch) 1989 arrest for the murder of their parents, José (Javier Bardem) and Kitty (Chloë Sevigny). Taking inspiration from footage of the trial and subsequent interviews, Monsters mirrored key moments from Lyle, 56, and Erik’s lives before and after they were sentenced to life without parole for shooting their mother and father.

Episodes 4 and 5 received critical and fan praise for introducing Erik and Lyle’s claims that they killed their parents in self-defense following years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse. However, the show received backlash for several inaccuracies about the Menéndez brothers, including the insinuation that they were in a sexual relationship.

“I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show,” read a statement from Erik that was shared on Lyle’s Facebook page. “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.”

Erik made it clear he wasn’t thrilled to hear how he and Lyle were characterized. (The Menéndez brothers presumably don’t have access to streaming services at Richard J. Donovan Correctional in California. Their family members, however, have seemingly watched and been able to pass down information to Erik and Lyle about the contents of the scripted show.)

“It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward — 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,” Erik’s statement 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,” he wrote. “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?”

Koch, who visited Erik and Lyle earlier this month with Kim Kardashian, was able to address the inmate’s concerns in person.

“To his statement, I understand how he feels and I get that it is so difficult to have your life — and not just your life — but the worst part of your life be televised in a dramatized, Hollywood version,” the actor said on Thursday, September 26, during a Today show appearance. “I just get how difficult that would be and I stand with him. I understand it must be really hard.”

During his interview with THR, Koch showed his support for Lyle and Erik getting released.

“They’ve done so much amazing work in prison. Erik teaches meditation. He teaches speech classes. They’re both incredible people,” he detailed. “I think back then, people just didn’t believe that sexual abuse between males was something that you could believe and the easier pill to swallow was that they killed their parents for money. But now, after so much time, I think people are more open to understanding that something like that did happen.”

Koch added: “In fact, the warden told me himself that he feels like he’d be happy to have them as his neighbors and that he would be comfortable letting them watch his children. I think that says a lot!”

While Koch stands by the Menéndez brothers, Murphy had a different take.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say they should be freed, but I think that their case should be reexamined, and I think new evidence should be presented,” Murphy told People on Friday, September 27. “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.”

Murphy noted that hopefully Monsters “ultimately leads to something positive” for Erik and Lyle.

“Did they go too far? Yes. Were they out of their minds at the time? Yes. But they’ve been model prisoners,” he added. “I’ve talked to people in the prison who claim they are totally rehabilitated and can actually do good for society in some capacity now, and I think that deserves to be looked at.”

Monsters is currently streaming on Netflix.