Current:Home > MarketsErik Menendez's Attorney Speaks Out on Ryan Murphy's Monsters Show -Momentum Wealth Path
Erik Menendez's Attorney Speaks Out on Ryan Murphy's Monsters Show
View
Date:2025-04-15 16:09:04
Erik Menendez’s longtime attorney is speaking out amid the success of Ryan Murphy’s new Netflix drama.
While Leslie Abramson—who represented Erik in the 1990s when he and his brother, Lyle Menendez, were tried for the 1989 murder of their parents—is depicted as one of the brothers’ most staunch defenders in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, the retired defense attorney revealed she had no desire to watch the series.
“That piece of s--t I heard about? No,” she said in a video published by Entertainment Tonight Oct. 9. “I don’t watch any of those.”
“I will make no comments about my client,” she added. “None whatsoever.”
The 81-year-old—who is played by Ari Graynor in the anthology series—said she also opted not to watch the previous dramatization of the case, 2017’s Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders, in which she’s portrayed by Edie Falco. (The actress later received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for the role.)
Leslie did, however, give a written statement about the brothers—who are both serving life sentences without parole—in the new documentary The Menendez Brothers, also streaming on Netflix.
“30 years is a long time,” she said in an email shown in the doc. “I’d like to leave the past in the past. No amount of media, nor teenage petitions will alter the fate of these clients. Only the court can do that and they have ruled.”
The release of Monsters helped fuel renewed interest in the brothers’ case, as social media users have called for their convictions to be overturned. Most recently, they’ve zeroed in on the emergence of potential new evidence which could support the brothers’ allegation of physical and sexual abuse by their father, José Menendez.
Kim Kardashian, who visited the Menendezes at their San Diego prison in September, wrote in an essay published by NBC News that the brothers deserve a new trial.
“I have spent time with Lyle and Erik; they are not monsters,” the Kardashians star said in the op-ed. “They are kind, intelligent, and honest men.”
“I don’t believe that spending their entire natural lives incarcerated was the right punishment for this complex case,” she added. “Had this crime been committed and trialed today, I believe the outcome would have been dramatically different.”
Cooper Koch, who played the role of Erik in Monsters and accompanied Kim on her visit, also spoke out in support of the brothers.
“They committed the crime when they were 18 and 21 years old,” he told Variety last month, “and at the time, it was really hard for people to believe that male-on-male sexual abuse could occur, especially with father and son.”
He continued, “I really do hope that they are able to get paroled and have an amazing rest of their lives.”
E! News has reached out to lawyers for Erik and Lyle Menendez for comment but hasn’t heard back.
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (9863)
Related
- Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
- Theodore Roosevelt’s pocket watch was stolen in 1987. It’s finally back at his New York home
- Biden speaks at NYC's Stonewall National Monument marking 55 years since riots
- New Jersey passes budget that boosts taxes on companies making over $10 million
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- Arson blamed for fire that destroyed historic home on Georgia plantation site
- 4 Missouri prison guards charged with murder, and a 5th with manslaughter, in death of Black man
- Revamp Your Space with Wayfair's 4th of July Sale: Up to 86% Off Home Organization, Decor, and More
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- Nancy Silverton Gave Us Her No-Fail Summer Party Appetizer, Plus the Best Summer Travel Tip
Ranking
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- 8 homeless moms in San Francisco struggled for help. Now, they’re learning to advocate for others
- While Simone Biles competes across town, Paralympic star Jessica Long rolls at swimming trials
- Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie announces the death of his wife, Rhonda Massie
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Oklahoma chief justice recommends removing state judge over corruption allegations
- Horoscopes Today, June 27, 2024
- Team USA bringing its own air conditioning to Paris 2024 Olympics as athletes made it a very high priority
Recommendation
Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
Whose fault is inflation? Trump and Biden blame each other in heated debate
Bachelorette Becca Kufrin Reveals Why She and Thomas Jacobs Haven't Yet Had a Wedding
Texas driver who plowed into bus stop outside migrant shelter convicted
North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
Nigel Farage criticizes racist remarks by Reform UK worker. But he later called it a ‘stitch-up’
Katherine Schwarzenegger Is Pregnant, Expecting Baby No. 3 With Chris Pratt
The Saipan surprise: How delicate talks led to the unlikely end of Julian Assange’s 12-year saga