“'Monsters' Star Leslie Grossman: The Show 'Only Benefits the Menendez Brothers'”

• “Monsters” has sparked debate about whether the true crime drama will help the Menendez brothers.
• Leslie Grossman told Business Insider, “The show will only benefit Erik Menendez and Lyle Menendez.”
• Her comments echo those of co-creator Ryan Murphy, who has defended the show against criticism.

“Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez” actor Leslie Grossman told Business Insider that the true crime drama will “only benefit the brothers” after the Menendez family criticized it.

The show, the second season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's Emmy-winning “Monster” anthology, topped Netflix's most-watched charts for two weeks after its September premiere and sparked new conversations about the brothers' case and the True crime ethics from content.

The series explores from multiple perspectives why Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez killed their parents, José Menendez and Kitty Menendez, in 1989, which culminated in the couple being sentenced to life in prison in 1996.

However, Erik Menendez and some family members and viewers have criticized the creators for scenes they said were untrue or harmful, such as insinuations that the brothers had an incestuous relationship.

In September, Murphy responded to the criticism by telling Variety that the show was the “best thing to happen to the Menendez brothers in 30 years” because it had renewed interest in their case.

Grossman, who starred as Judalon Smyth as a witness in the brothers' trial on Monsters, told BI on Tuesday: “I'm going to repeat what Ryan Murphy said, where I think the show only benefits these brothers will come.”

“Otherwise it is a case that no one thinks about, that no one talks about and in which there is no public interest.”

Grossman cited Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón's recent press conference on the brothers' case to suggest that the show had had an impact.

The brothers' lawyer filed a motion to overturn their murder conviction in May 2023, but Gascón spoke publicly about it for the first time last week. He told the news conference that his office was reviewing the case for a possible resentencing or retrial.

Gascón said he has received many calls about the petition since “Monsters” premiered.

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Acknowledging that she is not a legal expert, Grossman said of the show, “I think it raised interesting questions, and I think those questions activated the Los Angeles district attorney, and we'll see what happens.”

The LA District Attorney did not immediately respond to a request from BI for comment outside of business hours.

Grossman added: “My daughter, who is about to turn 18, and her friends knew nothing about this case. They didn’t grow up knowing it was like that.”

“A whole new generation of people are aware of this, and that's getting attention and notice, and that can only help the brothers make their case.”

During a debate Tuesday about the upcoming L.A. district attorney election, Gascón said his office was reviewing the case before the premiere of “Monsters” and had scheduled a hearing on the petition in November.

He said that after the release of “Monsters,” “we were immediately bombarded with media inquiries and calls because the case was resurfacing, and we decided not to answer one media inquiry after another, which is what we were supposed to do.” I just came out and made it very clear where we were.

It remains to be seen whether the renewed interest will change the brothers' conviction or sentence. Laurie L. Levenson, an LA law professor, previously told Business Insider that the series would have to provide compelling new evidence to help the brothers in court.

“I think judges in general are a little suspicious of what’s on TV. They draw a line between real facts and entertainment facts,” Levenson said.