Cooper Koch has responded to Erik Menendez’s statement slamming Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
On 19 September, the second season of the true crime anthology series debuted on Netflix.
A day after its release, the real-life Lyle shared a statement from Erik on his Facebook page, which denounced the series for its “blatant lies.”
“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,” he wrote.
“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.”
Towards the end of his statement, Erik said he was saddened by Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding their crime, adding that it has taken the “painful truths several steps backwards.”
In addition to Erik, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story has also received pushback from social media viewers, who slammed the series for its portrayal of the controversial brothers.
In a recent interview with Variety, Koch, who plays the youngest Menendez brother in the series, shared his thoughts on Erik’s statement, revealing that it “definitely” affected him.
“It made me feel things. I sympathize with him. I empathize with him. I get it. I understand how difficult it would be to have the worst part of your life be televised for millions of people to see,“ he explained.
“I understand how he feels, and I stand by him. In terms of approaching him and approaching the part, I just really wanted to do as much research and dig really deep into myself to really portray him with integrity and just be as authentic as possible to support him and also to support his family and all the people who stand with him.“
Koch’s interview came a few days after he visited Erik in San Diego’s Richard J Donovan Correctional Facility with reality TV star Kim Kardashian.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the duo, who were also joined by film producer Scott Budnick, travelled to the facility and spoke with 40 inmates about prison reform.
Koch isn’t the only person from the Monsters series to address Erik’s statement.
On 23 September, the show’s creator, Ryan Murphy, told E! News: “I think that’s interesting because I know he hasn’t watched the show. So I find that curious. I know this for a fact.
“I hope he does watch it. I think if he did watch it, he would be incredibly proud of Cooper Koch, who plays him.”
The American Horror Story boss went on to say that the show’s creatives wanted to use a Roshomon approach and feature “many perspectives“ – adding that every episode gives the viewer “a new theory based on people who were involved or covered the case.”
“So, some of the controversy of the show seems to be people thinking, for example, that the brothers are having an incestuous relationship. There are people who say that never happened. There were people who said it did happen,” he explained to the news outlet.
Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is now streaming on Netflix.
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