Ryan Murphy says ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ is the ‘best thing’ that’s happened to the brothers ‘in years.’ Here’s a timeline of the controversy.

On the day of release, a Facebook account that appeared to be run by Lyle Menendez’s family also criticized the incest scenes.

The person running the account wrote: “They had a plethora of material to draw from, and this is what they chose to do????? It’s laughable. It’s pathetic. And it is re-victimizing. It is imaginary. It is fiction. And to put out into the world the absurd notion that the brothers were lovers is the height of pure evil.”

In another post later that day, the account claimed Lyle Menendez had not seen the series.

“Just so everyone is clear, like the pinned post says, this is not Lyle posting. THANKFULLY, Lyle does not have Netflix in prison and cannot watch this abject trash,” they said.

Business Insider contacted the account to verify if it is run by a relative of Lyle Menendez.

Commenting on Erik Menendez’s statement, Murphy told Entertainment Tonight on September 23: “I think it’s interesting that he’s issued a statement without having seen the show. It’s really, really hard — if it’s your life — to see your life up on screen.

He added: “If you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65 percent of the scripts, and the film form, center around the abuse and what they claim happened to them. And we do it very carefully and we give them their day in court and they talk openly about it.

Referring to a 1950s Japanese crime thriller that tells the story of a murder from different perspectives, Murphy added: “It’s a ‘Rashomon’ kind of approach, where there were four people involved in that. Two of them 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.”

Asked about the romantic relationship between the brothers in the show, Murphy said: “If you watch the show, what the show is doing is presenting the points of view and theories from so many people who were involved in the case.”

Cooper Koch, who plays Erik Menendez in “Monsters,” told Variety on September 25 that he “absolutely does not” believe that the brothers had a secret physical relationship. “I do not think that’s true,” he said.

He added: “And I don’t think it was intended by the show to make or break that truth. I think that was just a theory that one person had and that got put into the show because that person was a character in the show.

“I stand with Eric and everything that he says in his testimony I believe to be his truth, and I believe him.”

Tammi Menendez posted a statement from Joan VanderMolen, the brothers’ aunt, and the rest of the Menendez family on September 26.

In it, the family called the Netflix series “repulsive” accused Murphy of carrying out a “character assassination” of the brothers.

The family ended the statement by accusing Murphy and Netflix of not understanding the ramifications of abuse, and said: “Perhaps, after all, ‘Monsters’ is all about Ryan Murphy.”

Murphy doubled down on his defense of the show in an interview with Variety published on September 26. He described the family’s response as “predictable,” adding he wanted them to be specific about what they “think is shocking.”

He said: “It’s all been presented before. What we’re doing is we’re the first to present it in one contained ecosystem. What’s grotesque about it? … Tammi [and] the family, they have always done this and they did this recently — they say, ‘lies after lies’ — but then they don’t say what the lies are. They don’t back up anything.”

Murphy added that the series is “the best thing that has happened to the Menendez brothers in 30 years” and noted that it has brought their case back into the spotlight.

He said: “They are now being talked about by millions of people all over the world. There’s a documentary coming out into two weeks about them, also on Netflix.

“And I think the interesting thing about it is it’s asking people to answer the questions, ‘Should they get a new trial? Should they be let out of jail? What happens in our society? Should people be locked away for life? Is there no chance ever at rehabilitation?’

“I’m interested in that, and a lot of people are talking about it. We’re asking really difficult questions, and it’s giving these brothers another trial in the court of public opinion. From what I can tell, it’s really opened up the possibility that this evidence that they claim that they have, maybe that there is going to be a way forward for them.”