The actor Cooper Koch which interprets Erik Menendez in the series “Monsters: Menendez Brothers: Parent Killers ” from Netflix, revealed details of his visit to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Center in San Diego, where the Menendez brothers are serving life sentences for the murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
In an interview with Varietyan American news portal, Koch said he visited Erik and Lyle Menendez on September 21 to discuss a prison reform proposal. They were accompanied by businesswomen kim kardashian , Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian . The actor revealed that Erik was the first person he saw when they entered the prison gym.
“We just looked at each other and immediately hugged. He was so kind. Lyle too, I was able to hug them both and just be in their presence,” says Koch, in the interview. “They are such upstanding individuals. They did so much work in the prison. Erik teaches meditation and speech classes, and they’re doing this Greenspace project to improve the prison grounds. It was just incredible.”
The actor says he and Erik were able to connect quickly. “I always knew I wanted to meet them,” he reveals. “I always knew I wanted to tell them that I believe in them and that I want to be an advocate for them. So when it happened, it felt strangely normal, like I already knew them because I had watched them for so long, and seen and heard them talk for hours and hours and hours.”
Despite having visited the brothers for the first time in prison, Koch and Erik had already spoken before. The first contact took place the night before the premiere of “Monstros” on Netflix, according to the actor. He tells Variety that they had a telephone conversation, in which the actor said he wanted to defend him and portray him “in the most authentic way possible”.
Koch also said he believes Erik and Lyle deserve a new trial, and hopes the brothers get parole. “They committed the crime when they were 18 and 21 years old, and at the time, it was very difficult for people to believe that sexual abuse between men could occur, especially between father and son,” comments the actor.
“It was very difficult for people to understand that the story they were telling was true, and this theory that they killed their parents for money is just crazy. But it was easier for people at the time to swallow this story”, he says. “But now, after 35 years, we have so much more evidence of child sexual abuse and male-on-male sexual abuse that I think they deserve to be retried. And everything that happened in that second trial as well, they were not allowed to use their allegations of sexual abuse,” he adds.
Erik Menendez and family criticize Netflix series
Despite the apparent good relationship with the actor who plays him, Erik Menendez criticized the Netflix series. In a statement made through his wife, Tammi Menendez on the social network X — reproduced by Variety —, he criticizes how Ryan Murphy creator of the series, portrays his story.
“It is with a heavy heart that I say that I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be so naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives that he would do this without ill intent,” Erik said in his statement. “It is regrettable to realize that Netflix’s misrepresentation of the tragedies surrounding our crime has gone painfully backward, returning to a time when the prosecution held to the belief that men did not suffer sexual abuse and that the trauma of rape was experienced differently by them compared to women,” he continued.
“These terrible lies have been challenged and revealed by countless courageous victims over the past two decades, who have overcome their shame and spoken out. Now, Murphy shapes his cruel narrative through distorted and disgusting portrayals of Lyle and me, as well as disheartening smears.”
The Menendez family also rejected Netflix’s production in a joint statement signed by 24 members and published on social media. In it, the brothers’ families state that, after more than three decades in prison, they “know them, love them and want them to return home”. The statements were posted on X and reproduced by The Hollywood Reporter.
“’Monsters: Menendez Brothers: Parent Killers’ is a serial, phobic, grotesque and anachronistic nightmare, which is not only full of untruths and outright falsehoods […] The character assassination of Erik and Lyle, who are our nephews and cousins, under the justification of a ‘storytelling narrative’ is repulsive,” the joint statement reads.
“Monsters”: see the Menendez story, theme of the Netflix series
This content was originally published in “Monsters”: Actor reveals details of meeting with Menendez brothers in prison on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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