Erik Menéndez has opened up about the struggles he and his brother, Lyle, endured during their three decades in prison. In a recent interview, Menéndez described prison as a “dangerous environment” where he faced continuous bullying and trauma.
Speaking on the TMZ podcast 2 Angry Men—co-hosted by the brothers’ lawyer Mark Geragos—Menéndez detailed the difficulties of life behind bars. “Prison was hard for me. I faced a lot of bullying and trauma,” he said. “It was a dangerous environment.”
Menéndez elaborated on the challenges of being incarcerated without gang affiliation, saying, “I was picked on, bullied violently, and it was traumatic and continual. A lot of inmates go through this when they come in alone and aren’t part of a gang structure.”
He also spoke about his unwillingness to fight back. “I’m not going to engage, and I had no one to turn to for help,” he explained, adding that being separated from Lyle made things even harder.
The Menéndez brothers were initially held in separate prisons, but in 2018, Lyle was transferred to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, where Erik had been serving since 2013. Erik recalled a particularly distressing moment when he learned Lyle had been assaulted. “I remember the day I was told, ‘Lyle just got assaulted and got his jaw broken.’ I was thinking, ‘He’s over there, I’m going through this over here. At least if we were together, we could protect each other.’ But we weren’t even allowed to be together.”
Renewed Public Interest
Interest in the Menéndez brothers has resurged following the Netflix drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, created by Ryan Murphy. The series explores their complex relationship, though Erik has strongly criticized its portrayal.
In a statement shared via a TikTok account linked to his wife, Tammi, Erik condemned the show’s depiction of his brother. “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle. This caricature is rooted in horrible and blatant lies. I can only believe they were done on purpose,” he said. “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 without bad intent.”
The Menéndez brothers were 18 and 21 when they killed their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion, claiming they had suffered years of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at their hands.
Legal Uncertainty
There was speculation in 2023 that the brothers might be resentenced after then-L.A. District Attorney George Gascón filed a request for review. However, Gascón lost his re-election to Nathan Hochman, who has not publicly indicated whether he will proceed with the case.
For now, the Menéndez brothers remain behind bars, navigating the ongoing challenges of prison life while their story continues to captivate the public.
