Inside ‘Monsters’ Star Cooper Koch’s Prison Visit With Erik Menendez

Convicted assassin Erik Menendez could have had harsh condemnation of Ryan Murphy’s controversial Netflix sequence, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, over its multifaceted portrayal of his and brother Lyle Menendez’s homicide of their dad and mom in 1989 and the legal trials that adopted. However the California inmate, who’s behind bars for all times, had excessive reward for the actor who portrays him when the 2 met face-to-face throughout a jail go to final week brokered by Kim Kardashian.

Cooper Koch, the breakout star of the hit sequence, informed The Hollywood Reporter that when he arrived on the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility on a go to to debate jail reform and the Menendez brothers’ large mural undertaking on the San Diego County advanced, he and the person he portrays — with newfound sympathy in a lauded efficiency — clocked one another virtually instantly. 

“We walked within the [prison’s] gymnasium, and the primary person who I noticed was Erik. And we locked eyes, and he smiled and I smiled, and we hugged one another. And it was actually, actually highly effective and emotional. It was a tremendous expertise,” Koch stated, then referring to Erik and Lyle Menendez, who had been each on the occasion. “And he — each of them had been so form, and so they’re so regular.”

The journey was a last-minute, whirlwind affair for Koch, who obtained an out-of-the-blue FaceTime name from Kardashian simply days earlier than the journey because the sequence premiered on Netflix. The fact star has been an advocate for incarcerated people since 2018 when a Mic.com video of then-inmate Alice Johnson went viral and impressed the truth TV megastar to advocate for and finally assist free the grandmother from a life sentence she was handed for drug trafficking. Kardashian invited Koch, alongside together with her and others, in a deliberate journey to R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility to satisfy with the Menendez brothers, who’ve been engaged on a 1,000-foot lengthy mural scaling the concrete partitions of a bit of the jail, which is dubbed Echo Yard.

Koch informed THR that he and Erik Menendez had been in a position to spend some one-on-one time talking with one another. At a degree throughout their face-to-face chat, the person who he has labored for over a yr to redefine as a sympathetic sufferer of sexual, bodily and emotional abuse by the hands of his dad and mom praised him for his work — despite the fact that he hasn’t seen the sequence but. 

“One of many first issues Erik stated was, ‘I do know you’re doing nice. You probably did an excellent job in episode 5 [“The Hurt Man”] and I’m going to observe it. I simply, you understand, it’s tough,’” Koch recalled his saying of the sequence’ midway-point bottle episode, the place Koch’s Erik particulars his father’s alleged sexual and emotional abuse. “And I spoke to him about it, which was insane for me.”

Koch stated the 2 then spoke concerning the backlash the present has obtained for sure artistic selections made in its script that some see as a deeply problematic revision of historical past. The weekend after Monsters debuted on Netflix, Erik Menendez launched a press release calling the portrayal of him and his brother “naive and inaccurate concerning the information of our lives in order to do that with out dangerous intent.”

Days later, Murphy shot again, defending the sequence and the a number of views and theories offered on the brothers’ case, together with the insinuations of incest between the 2 which can be included and meant to symbolize reporter Dominick Dunne’s suggestion about their relationship. This week, the disagreement continued when two dozen members of the Menendez brothers’ prolonged household launched one other assertion slamming the sequence as “character assassination” and arguing that its “mistruths” have victimized your complete Menendez household. Murphy then doubled down, saying that his present is one of the best factor to occur to the brothers “in 30 years,” as their case is now a scorching subject. 

“I spoke to him about his assertion,” Koch informed THR. “And, you understand, I simply informed him that I perceive the place he’s coming from. I really feel for him. I can’t think about what it have to be prefer to have the worst components of your life be portrayed on tv on this fictionalized, dramatized means, you understand, and so I simply informed him that I stand with him. I perceive how that should really feel and that it’s actually tough.”

The Menendez brothers exhausted all appeals over time and resolved to spend their lives in jail with out the potential of parole. However just lately, their father was accused of sexual abuse by a former member of the Eighties boy band group Menudo and writer Robert Rand got here throughout a bit of onerous proof exhibiting José Menendez possible was abusing his sons. Now, via a habeas corpus petition, the Menendez brothers may obtain a brand new sentence for his or her 1989 crime which may doubtlessly be diminished to time served and free them after 30 years.

Koch stated that he very a lot hopes this turns into a actuality for the brothers.  

“They’ve achieved a lot wonderful work in jail,” he says. “Erik teaches meditation. He teaches speech lessons. They’re each unimaginable individuals. I feel again then, individuals simply didn’t consider that sexual abuse between males was one thing that you may consider and the simpler capsule to swallow was that they killed their dad and mom for cash. However now, after a lot time, I feel persons are extra open to understanding that one thing like that did occur.”

Koch added that the brothers even discovered an advocate in an sudden particular person after their years as mannequin inmates on the R,J. Donovan Correctional Facility.

“The truth is, the warden informed me himself that he seems like he’d be comfortable to have them as his neighbors and that he could be snug letting them watch his youngsters,” Koch informed THR. “I feel that claims quite a bit!”

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is now streaming on Netflix.