‘Monsters’ actor Leslie Grossman says she won’t contact the real-life witness she plays, or visit the killers

Last week, Grossman told Business Insider that she wanted to be “as respectful” of Smyth as possible.

It came after she told People that she would be open to speaking to her but didn’t feel a “strong need.”

“Look, she’s a real human being,” Grossman said to BI. “This is probably pretty crazy to have this happen to you. And if this was something that she really wanted, of course, I would be open to speaking with her.

“But what I’m not going to do is contact her. I think this would be something she would have to initiate and I’m open to it if this is something she wanted to do.”

In 1990, Smyth reported that the Menendez brothers had confessed to their therapist, Jerome Oziel, that they had murdered their parents, José Menendez and Kitty Menendez. The police had been investigating the case since the parents died in 1989, but this was the lead that helped them arrest Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez.

In 1993, Smyth testified in the case on behalf of the brothers, attacking Oziel’s character by claiming Oziel had raped and drugged her. Oziel denied this.

(Per People, she also made the rape allegation in a 1990 civil case, which led to an out-of-court settlement.)

Grossman said she has no plans to visit the Menendez brothers in prison.

The brothers were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 but have recently petitioned to appeal their sentence, citing new evidence.

Cooper Koch, who played Erik Menendez in “Monsters,” seems to be the only cast member to meet the real-life subjects of the show.

Last month, Variety reported that Cooper Koch visited the Menendez brothers at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in California with Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner, and Khloe Kardashian.

“I got to have a really good conversation with him and tell him that I believe him and I did everything I could as an actor to advocate for him and portray him as authentically as possible, and that I think the show does a really good job of representing him,” Koch told Variety of his meeting with Erik Menendez.

Grossman said she has no plans to visit.

“I am going to echo what Ryan Murphy said, where I think that the show will only benefit those brothers. Otherwise a case that nobody’s thinking about, nobody’s talking about,” Grossman added later in defense of the series.