WARNING: The subject matter in the article below may be sensitive to some readers. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
Kim Kardashian visits Lyle and Erik Menéndez at the San Francisco Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility on September 21st. The outlet TMZ was the first to report the visit. The Menéndez brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and were sentenced to life in 1996. They were both behind the murders of their parents, Josê and Kitty Menédez, in 1989 when Llye was 21, and Erik was only 18. The act shook up Beverly Hills. However, Lyle and Erik claimed that the reasons behind the murders were that they were both abused by them and were living in fear at the time they committed the acts.
I'll be transparent. I don't condone murder unless it's most necessary, such as self-defense. It's a fine line; you tend to live with guilt afterward. Did the Menéndez brothers fit under the self-defense argument? I was young when the publicized trial took place in the 1990s and had zero understanding, so I can't provide an answer. However, if Lyle and Erik were abused horribly and inhumanely, then I give them the utmost sympathy for what they endured. It's two sides of a coin, so to speak, as there'll be no simple explanations for crime.
Kim Kardashian visits Lyle and Erik Menéndez after controversial Ryan Murphy Monsters release
Kim made her way to San Francisco as part of her prison reform advocacy, and she spoke with many prisoners, including Lyle and Erik. The reality star wasn't alone; she had her sister, Khloé, and her mother, Kris Jenner. The Monsters actor Cooper Koch, who portrays Erik Menéndez in the series, was also present.
According to Deadline, one of the discussions between Kim, her group, and the brothers concerns a project called "Greenspace," which is defined as "a reform strategy aimed at improving prison yards to aid inmate rehabilitation." The project is led by Lyle and Erik, and in my interpretation, they hope that it'll be approved so that the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility can better support its inmates.
Regarding Ryan Murphy's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story that's currently on Netflix, Erik gave an angry and emotionally charged statement concerning that Murphy gave a poor and untrue representation of him and his older brother in the series and erased the abuse confessions, which was a significant highlight of the actual trial.
A member of Lyle and Erik's went to Facebook to post Erik's statement, as both men cannot access the site or Netflix while in prison. The member spoke on Lyle's behalf as he expressed what he had to say.
"I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant likes rampant in the show. I can only believe they were done so on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives, so as to do this without bad intent."
Erik additionally highlighted the abuse that he and Erik went through with their father and emphasized that men, too, can be victims of predatory sexual assault and rape.
"It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime [has] taken the painful truths several steps backward — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women. Those awful lies have been disrupted and exposed by countless brave victims over the last two decades who have broken through their personal shame and bravely spoken out. So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and me and disheartening slander. Is truth not enough?"
I haven't watched Monsters, so I can't express my thoughts. However, I did watch another documentary on the brothers on Investigative Discovery, in which Gen-Z individuals share their support of Lyle and Erik on TikTok, as abuse is more awareness surrounding it now than in the late 80s and early 90s. However, the support ring might not be enough to change the sentence.
Whether Kim's visit will be a featured segment on The Kardashians next season or the future remains in question, but it won't be the first time she was filmed and voicing her prison reform passion on the series. Last season, she met with Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who was abused by her mother and served time in prison for her mother's murder. Gypsy has since been released this year and is expected to have her first child with her partner.