Ryan Murphy Might Make More ‘Monsters’ Episodes if the Menendez Brothers are Freed

Ryan Murphy said he and the creative team behind Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story have considered shooting new bonus episodes if the brothers are able to secure release from prison.

“It’s been discussed, I’ll tell you that much,” Murphy said in a new interview with Variety. “Everyone has been interested in that. I think everyone wants to see how this story ends because this story is not over.”

Murphy’s comments came after family members of the Menendez brothers gathered outside a Los Angeles courthouse earlier this week to call for Erik and Lyle’s release. They’ve argued that key evidence was excluded or was not yet available when the brothers were convicted and sentenced to life in prison for killing their parents, José and Kitty.

Erik and Lyle have long claimed that their motive stemmed from a lifetime of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse from their parents. Several of the brothers’ relatives echoed this at the press conference this week, including Kitty’s 92-year-old sister, Joan Andersen VanderMolen, who said, “Their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable.”

The move to free the Menendez brothers has grown since Monsters premiered last month, with Kim Kardashian even embarking on a public campaign in support of the brothers. Murphy has already spoken about how he believes the show helped create a “move toward justice” for the brothers, and he echoed the sentiment in this new Variety interview. 

“When we were writing the ‘Menendez Story’ —  we’ve been working on this for two years — nobody was talking about the Menendez brothers,” he said. “We never thought anybody ever would again.”

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But Monsters has also faced direct criticism. Erik issued a statement through his wife, Tammi, that said the show offered a “dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime.” Meanwhile, lawyer Mark Geragos said at this week’s press conference that Monsters presented a “caricature” of the brothers that “so inflamed the people who were supportive” that the “backlash is what was helpful.” 

Murphy has repeatedly defended the show, instead insisting it garnered an outpouring of empathy for the brothers, especially the two episodes that dealt with their alleged abuse. Reacting to Geragos’ words, Murphy said, “It was specifically episodes four and five that dealt with the sexual abuse that those two claim they went through, and our dramatization of that that I think really moved the needle with an outpouring of outrage… As [Geragos] himself admitted, that case was nowhere. It was floundering. There was no interest. There was no momentum.”