Kim Kardashian has reportedly visited two brothers currently serving life sentences for the brutal murder of their parents in California 35 years ago.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of shooting Jose and Kitty Menendez multiple times at close range in their mansion in Beverly Hills on 20 August 1989. The brothers were 21 and 18 at the time.
(L-R): Lyle and Erik Menendez. Pics: Richard J Donovan Correctional Facility
A Netflix drama based on the true-life crime is currently top of the Netflix viewing chart.
The brothers were among inmates listening to Kardashian speak about prison reform at San Diego County’s Richard J Donovan Correctional Facility, according to US entertainment outlet TMZ.
Both brothers have been involved in a project called Greenspace, encouraging inmates to improve the appearance of prison yards to assist in their rehabilitation.
Kim was said to be with her sister Khloé, her mother Kris, and the actor who plays Erik in the Netflix show, Cooper Koch.
Last week, the real Erik Menendez criticised the Netflix show, calling it “dishonest” and “inaccurate”, hitting out at what he called “blatant lies” that made up the characterisation of his elder brother Lyle.
In a statement shared by Erik’s wife Tammi on X, he said: “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show. I can only believe they were done so on purpose”.
He went on to accuse the show’s creator, Ryan Murphy, of “bad intent,” and said the show put back the cause of male sexual assault victims by many years.
The brothers claimed they committed the murders in self-defence after many years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
The prosecution argued they killed their parents to receive a large inheritance.
Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story. Pic: Netflix
‘It’s hard to see your life up on screen’
Murphy, who made the first series of Monster about US serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, responded to the comments, saying Erik had not actually seen the show, and that it was his obligation as the show’s creator to portray both sides of the story.
Murphy told Entertainment Tonight: “It’s really hard, if it’s your life, to see your life up on screen…
“There were four people involved, two people are dead, what about the parents? We had an obligation as storytellers to also try and put in their perspective based on our research, which we did.”
(L to R) Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, Chloë Sevigny as Kitty Menendez, Javier Bardem as Jose Menendez and Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez. Pic: Netflix
Speaking to reporters at the premiere of the series in Los Angeles last week, Cooper Koch said he carried out a lot of research for the show.
The actor who plays Erik said: “I just read everything that I could. I watched the entire trial. I slept with that trial on. So, like, I went to sleep listening to Erik [Menendez] and Leslie [Hope Abramson – the lawyer who defended the brothers] on the stand.”
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, stars Javier Bardem, Chloë Sevigny, Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez, and is streaming now on Netflix.