Convicted murderer Erik Menendez may have had harsh condemnation of Ryan Murphy’s controversial Netflix series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, over its multifaceted portrayal of his and brother Lyle Menendez’s murder of their parents in 1989 and the criminal trials that followed. But the California inmate, who is behind bars for life, had high praise for the actor who portrays him when the two met face-to-face during a prison visit last week brokered by Kim Kardashian.
Cooper Koch, the breakout star of the hit series, told The Hollywood Reporter that when he arrived at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility on a visit to discuss prison reform and the Menendez brothers’ massive mural project at the San Diego County complex, he and the man he portrays — with newfound sympathy in a lauded performance — clocked each other almost immediately.
“We walked in the [prison’s] gymnasium, and the first person that I saw was Erik. And we locked eyes, and he smiled and I smiled, and we hugged each other. And it was really, really powerful and emotional. It was an amazing experience,” Koch said, then referring to Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were both at the event. “And he — both of them were so kind, and they’re so normal.”
The trip was a last-minute, whirlwind affair for Koch, who received an out-of-the-blue FaceTime call from Kardashian just days before the trip as the series premiered on Netflix. The reality star has been an advocate for incarcerated individuals since 2018 when a Mic.com video of then-inmate Alice Johnson went viral and inspired the reality TV megastar to advocate for and eventually help free the grandmother from a life sentence she was handed for drug trafficking. Kardashian invited Koch, along with her and others, in a planned trip to R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility to meet with the Menendez brothers, who have been working on a 1,000-foot long mural scaling the concrete walls of a section of the prison, which is dubbed Echo Yard.
Koch told THR that he and Erik Menendez were able to spend some one-on-one time speaking with each other. At a point during their face-to-face chat, the man who he has worked for over a year to redefine as a sympathetic victim of sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his parents praised him for his work — even though he hasn’t seen the series yet.
“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. I just, you know, it’s difficult,’” Koch recalled his saying of the series’ midway-point bottle episode, where Koch’s Erik details his father’s alleged sexual and emotional abuse. “And I spoke to him about it, which was insane for me.”
Koch said the two then spoke about the backlash the show has received for certain creative decisions made in its script that some see as a deeply problematic revision of history. The weekend after Monsters debuted on Netflix, Erik Menendez released a statement calling the portrayal of him and his brother “naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.”
Days later, Murphy shot back, defending the series and the multiple perspectives and theories presented on the brothers’ case, including the insinuations of incest between the two that are included and meant to represent reporter Dominick Dunne’s suggestion about their relationship. This week, the war of words continued when two dozen members of the Menendez brothers’ extended family released another statement slamming the series as “character assassination” and arguing that its “mistruths” have victimized the entire Menendez family. Murphy then doubled down, saying that his show is the best thing to happen to the brothers “in 30 years,” as their case is now a hot topic.
“I spoke to him about his statement,” Koch told THR. “And, you know, I just told him that I understand where he’s coming from. I feel for him. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have the worst parts of your life be portrayed on television in this fictionalized, dramatized way, you know, and so I just told him that I stand with him. I understand how that must feel and that it’s really difficult.”
The Menendez brothers exhausted all appeals over the years and resolved to spend their lives in prison without the possibility of parole. But recently, their father was accused of sexual abuse by a former member of the 1980s boy band group Menudo and author Robert Rand came across a piece of hard evidence showing José Menendez likely was abusing his sons. Now, through a habeas corpus petition, the Menendez brothers could receive a new sentence for their 1989 crime which could potentially be reduced to time served and free them after 30 years.
Koch said that he very much hopes this becomes a reality for the brothers.
“They’ve done so much amazing work in prison,” he says. “Erik teaches meditation. He teaches speech classes. They’re both incredible people. 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 that the brothers even found an advocate in an unexpected person after their years as model inmates at the R,J. Donovan Correctional Facility.
“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,” Koch told THR. “I think that says a lot!”
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is now streaming on Netflix.
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