Kim Kardashian has been very vocal about her opinions on the Erik and Lyle Menendez case. Last month, she penned an essay piece for NBC News that argued for their release from prison after she visited the brothers at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional facility near San Diego with “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” star Cooper Koch.
“I think that they never got a fair second trial and I feel like ever since, for me, watching Ryan Murphy’s ‘Monsters’ show it really opened up and showed me so much about abuse,” Kardashian told Variety‘s Marc Malkin at the Academy Museum Gala on Saturday. “Imagine if no one believed you.”
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced that the brothers will be granted a hearing on Nov. 29 to reevaluate newly discovered evidence on their case.
“The DA’s office really should right the wrong that they did many years ago. It doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t have done time. It just means that I really believe that they deserve a second chance and they’ve done enough time,” Kardashian said.
Erik and Lyle were sentenced to life without parole in 1996 following a retrial of their initial stalemate case. The brothers murdered their parents in August of 1989, claiming that they had been repeatedly sexually abused by their father for years. These details were omitted from their second and determining trial.
“The sentence that they’ve had, they’ve been in it for almost 35 years. That’s more than a first-degree murder charge,” Kardashian said. “I am someone who believes in second chances and I really believe in them.”
Koch also talked to Malkin at the Academy Museum Gala about why he may not be up for “Monsters” co-creator Ryan Murphy’s interest in shooting bonus episodes of the Netflix series if the brothers are released from prison.
“I think we told the story,” Koch said. “We did it.”
He added, “I think I’m ready to go onto the next thing. I’ve loved talking about it and I’ve loved advocating for them and I’m really excited for them to get out hopefully, but in terms of being Erik again, I think I’m ready to let that go.”
Koch said that he is interested in meeting with Luca Guadagnino to talk about starring as Patrick Bateman in the filmmaker’s remake of “American Psycho.”
