Menendez brothers' response to TikTok campaign for prison release

The Menendez brothers have responded to the internet campaign clamouring for their release from prison more than three decades after they killed their parents.

Now aged 53, Erik and his elder brother Lyle, 56, were imprisoned for the murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez back in 1989.

The case initially garnered significant media attention, a fascination that persists all this time later and fuelled by the recent release of limited series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and a feature-length documentary on Netflix.

Back in 1993, Court TV broadcast the trial becoming one of the channel's most high-profile cases.

In 2021, the broadcaster launched a YouTube channel of the same name, uploading all the footage from the case, sparking interest among a new generation who began sharing their own interpretations of the events online, including on TikTok.

Following the release of the Netflix series and The Menendez Brothers documentary, it was revealed that the Los Angeles District Attorney office is reviewing new evidence to determine if a retrial is warranted - a development welcomed by social media users advocating to 'free the Menendi'.

In the documentary, director Alejandro Hartmann conducted several interviews with the incarcerated brothers. Extended versions of these interviews have now been made available as part of a companion podcast, reports the Mirror.

As part of the You Can't Make This Up series available on Spotify, Apple and other podcast services, it features three episodes where the brothers address the TikTok campaign that sought their freedom.

In a poignant moment, Erik expresses his gratitude: "I really appreciate the support of the people that have written me and are supporting me - by supporting me, [people who] believe that I shouldn't spend the rest of my life in prison."

He acknowledges the variety of content on TikTok: "I've heard about a lot of the videos, I'm sure there are very serious TikTok videos, but then I also know there are ones that are not. I only get to see what's on TV and the stories about them. I do worry, and I think it's important, that the seriousness of my crime not be minimised or diminished."

Erik also reflects on how he doesn't want people to forget the gravity of the situation: "This tragedy has been deep, and every member of my family has been impacted. And sometimes I think a lot of that pain and tragedy gets lost in translation in some of the TikTok videos.

"So I think that it is important that we remember that two people are no longer alive and families have been devastated by this tragedy, and that I am at the center of it. I am the one responsible. I don't want that to be diminished or minimised in any way by people that support me and believe in me."

Despite the upcoming hearing in November to determine future proceedings, Erik remains cautious about anticipating the outcome.

"I've been through so many disappointments when it comes to appeals of people rallying around trying to get signatures of the governor or attorneys believing that because the case law is evolving to understand the impact of childhood trauma, developmental trauma and how that now impacts us as adults, that laws are changing," he expresses.

"But I am so leery of getting my hopes up because the court system has not given us any evidence that they will overturn the case. And so while I am hopeful and pray, I am worried about getting my hopes up about any appeal. Every time I get hopeful, the let down is even more intense and profound and personal."

He further adds, "There's a saying that hope is a good thing, but hope can be torturous. And it has been torturous in my life."

On the other hand, Lyle appears more optimistic, stating: "The followers who are younger that are on that sort of TikTok social media generation, they really have tremendous hope. I'm willing to float along on their hope and we'll see what happens."

"I'm not as hopeless as I was as a 21-year-old, that's for sure. Obviously, I feel more hope when society seems to be understanding these experiences and sex abuse better."

"So I do have hope and I also see a lot of people paroling who have life sentences, and still going home and paroling because they've rehabilitated, and I certainly feel like my brother and I have rehabilitated."

Ryan Murphy, the showrunner of Monsters, has also voiced his support for the brothers to have their case re-examined, stating to The Hollywood Reporter: "I think that they probably deserve their time in court, at least with some of this new evidence. And then it's up for the courts to decide. I hope that they do get fairness. And that's the way the courts are supposed to work, right? ".

The Menendez Brothers and Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story are both available to stream on Netflix now.