Menendez’s real-life brother, Erik, has spoken out about Ryan Murphy’s portrayal of his past crimes in the new Netflix series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”

In an online statement posted via his wife Tammi Menendez’s X account, Menendez, who was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder along with his brother Lyle for killing their parents, said the drama had created “ruinous character portrayals” of both of them. The statement also accused Murphy of having malicious intent due to the nature of the story the showrunner had created.

“It is with a heavy heart that I say that I believe Ryan Murphy could not be so naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives to do this without malicious intent,” Menendez wrote in his statement.

Menendez, who is currently serving a life sentence with his brother Lyle at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, criticized the show for reviving “disingenuous” stories about their lives, and accused the show of misrepresenting male trauma and sexual abuse. He also said he was saddened by what he sees as a step backwards in understanding childhood trauma, and condemned the show for perpetuating harmful lies and smears. He ended his statement by thanking those who supported him and calling for the truth to prevail.

In the graphic miniseries, Javier Bardem plays the father, Jose Menendez, and Chloë Sevigny has been cast as their mother, Kitty Menendez. Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch play their sons and killers, Lyle and Erik Menendez.

Variety Chief TV critic Aramide Tinubu harshly criticized the series, writing that “the show attempts to unravel the circumstances that led to the crime while emphasizing Erik and Lyle’s trauma. But ultimately, the story feels pointless and bizarre.” Read the full review here.

Below is Menendez’s full statement:

“I believed we had moved beyond the lies and the ruinous characterizations of Lyle, and had created a caricature of Lyle that was rooted in the horrible and blatant lies that were rampant on the show. I can only believe they did that on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say that I believe Ryan Murphy could not be so naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives to do this without malicious intent.

“It’s sad to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crimes has taken the painful truth several steps back — back in time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that men were not sexually abused, and that men experienced rape trauma differently than women. Those terrible lies have been challenged and exposed over the past two decades by countless brave victims who have broken through their personal shame and bravely spoken out. So now Murphy is shaping his terrible story through disgusting and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and myself, and disheartening smears.

“Isn’t the truth enough? Let the truth be the truth. How demoralizing to know that one man in power can undermine decades of progress in shedding light on childhood trauma. Violence is never an answer, never a solution, and is always tragic. That’s why I hope it will never be forgotten that violence against a child creates a hundred horrific and silent crime scenes, darkly overshadowed by the glitz and glamour, rarely revealed until the tragedy has finally dawned on everyone involved. To everyone who has reached out to me and supported me, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”