Kim Kardashian. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Kim Kardashian is glad that Erik and Lyle Menendez’s case is getting another look.
“I think that they never got a fair second trial and I feel like ever since, for me, watching Ryan Murphy’s Monsters show it really opened up and showed me so much about abuse,” Kardashian said to Variety on Saturday, October 19. “Imagine if no one believed you.”
Earlier this month, Los Angeles district attorney George Gascón announced that the brothers were granted a hearing in November. The court date will reevaluate the new evidence that the brothers were allegedly molested by their father.
“The DA’s office really should right the wrong that they did many years ago. It doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t have done time,” Kardashian told the outlet on Saturday. “It just means that I really believe that they deserve a second chance and they’ve done enough time.”
As Lyle and Erik Menéndez‘s new hearing approaches, do the brothers have any set plans amid the possibility of their release from prison? Their attorney Mark Geragos spoke with Us Weekly and other reporters at a press conference held by the Menéndez family on Wednesday, October 16, saying, “I won’t speak to whether [Erik and […]
Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, were convicted of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989, when they were 18 and 21 years old. After going through two trials, the men were sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996.
“The sentence that they’ve had, they’ve been in it for almost 35 years. That’s more than a first-degree murder charge,” Kardashian said. “I am someone who believes in second chances and I really believe in them.”
The Menendez brothers’ story has become a hot discussion again after Ryan Murphy focused on their story for season 2 of his Netflix series Monsters. The fourth and fifth episodes of the show explored Erik and Lyle’s claims that they killed their parents in self-defense following years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse. During their original trial, those details were not included.
After Monsters dropped, Kardashian, who is pursuing a law degree after passing the “baby bar” in 2021 — and has long advocated for prison reform — has been vocal about her support for Erik and Lyle. Earlier this month, she penned a personal essay shared via NBC News advocating for them to be freed after getting the chance to meet them.
“I have spent time with Lyle and Erik; they are not monsters. They are kind, intelligent, and honest men. In prison, they both have exemplary disciplinary records,” she wrote. “They have earned multiple college degrees, worked as caregivers for elderly incarcerated individuals in hospice, and been mentors in college programs — committed to giving back to others. When I visited the prison three weeks ago, one of the wardens told me he would feel comfortable having them as neighbors.”
Kardashian visited the Richard J. Donovan Correctional facility on September 21, to speak about prison reform to inmates, which included Lyle and Erik. The Skims founder was joined by Cooper Koch, who portrays Erik on Monsters.