Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole in 1996 for murdering their father and mother, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills mansion on August 20, 1989. The brothers committed this crime because they feared for their lives after a lifetime of abuse and sexual assault. 

In the past month a new TV show premiered on Netflix on September 19, 2024, about the Menendez brothers’ court case and crime. The brothers are not happy with how they are being portrayed in the new series. The family as well as the viewers feel as if the show was inaccurate, and felt as if we are taking 2 steps backwards to understanding their trauma.

Lyle’s wife published a statement on Twitter, “I believed we had moved beyond lies and ruinous characters Portrayals especially of Lyle, it is sad to know Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backwards,” Erik said. 

Although the show is mainly based on the abuse they went through, it did not show any empathy for the boys. 

Even though the Menendez family stated that the show is “a phobic, gross, anachronistic, serial episodic nightmare that is not only riddled with mistrusts and outright falsehoods but ignores the most recent exculpatory revelations.”

The producer of the show, Ryan Murphy, believes it is the best thing that has happened to them in years. The show is picking up a lot of traction for the brothers and there is a possibility their case will go back to the courtroom. 

No matter what the future has in store for the brothers, they deserve peace and closure.