Netflix fans are finding Ryan Murphy's latest project to be a different kind of American Horror Story.
The 58-year-old prolific creator's “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” which released Thursday, is facing a fierce backlash from viewers who find the suggestion of an incestuous relationship between the infamous brothers “offensive” and “disgusting.”
This nine-part fictional series takes us through the events leading up to the sensational 1989 murder of Jose and Kitty Menendez at the hands of their two sons, who insisted their father had sexually abused them – as well as the aftermath of the brutal crime.
This hint begins in the second episode, titled “Spree,” where it's hinted that Lyle, now 56, and Erik, 53, had a romantic relationship — starting with a scene where Lyle (portrayed by Nicholas Chavez) passionately kisses his brother (Cooper Koch).
The show presents the suggestion of incest as a journalist's theory that the brothers were “hiding an even darker secret” that “had nothing to do with Jose”, which was reportedly spread by Vanity Fair's Dominick Dunne at the time – a plot point that has been revealed to be only partially factual.
In the first so-called problematic episode, the siblings have already killed their parents, and now Lyle is showing Erik dreams of a brighter future for them, now that Jose and Kitty are gone. He tells his brother that the two of them will live their best lives at L.A.'s exclusive Hotel Bel-Air – before kissing him on the lips.
Fans shared their displeasure on social media. A viewer is writing on X“The Menendez brothers were victims of sexual abuse,” before calling the show “immoral fan fiction.”
“This is terrible,” Another X user tut-tutted in response to a video of the kissing scene. “Why are they portraying the Menendez brothers this way??? They never enjoyed doing these things. What kind of perspective is this??? We need empathy – not sexualization.”
“The incestuous content in the show is offensive,” tsked an x poster,
Putting an end to the shocking answers, a fan said“If Ryan wanted to make a show about twin brothers who develop an intimate relationship with one another due to shared sexual trauma and parental abuse, he should have written a new story. You don't get to rewrite the experience of real people and real victims to suit your own needs!”
In the second episode, viewers see Lyle and Erik dancing seductively together at a party before Lyle gets high on cocaine. He then walks up to his brother, who is dancing with a woman, and gets in between them.
At one point, the two dance together, after which Eric wipes powder off his brother's nose and puts his thumb in his mouth. People at the party look on in amazement.
Although the real-life Dunne never published any incest theories in his coverage of the trial, he wrote that sources told him Lyle and Erik had been sexually abused in a 1990 Vanity Fair article, “Nightmare on Elm Drive,
Lyle and Erik's first trial ended in two hung juries in 1994. Evidence relating to the siblings' alleged sexual abuse was declared inadmissible during their second trial.
Both brothers were convicted of murder in a second trial and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 1996.
Lyle married Anna Erickson while in prison in 1996 and divorced in 2001. He has been married to Rebecca Sneed since 2003. Erick has been married to his wife Tammy since 1999.
Murphy faced similar outrage in 2022 after releasing a Netflix miniseries about the life and crimes of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer that reportedly made some viewers “vomit.”
This sensational recap became the second most streamed show on the platform shortly after its release.
