Monsters' Cooper Koch addresses Lyle and Erik Menendez kiss following backlash

16 October 2024, 15:22

By Sam Prance

Cooper Koch has opened up about filming the Menendez brothers' controversial kiss in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.

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Want to know what Cooper Koch thinks of the controversial Erik and Lyle Menendez kiss in Monsters? Well, he's made some pretty interesting comments.

As soon as Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story came out on Netflix, the series sparked controversy over its depiction of the Menendez brothers. While viewers praised the performances of actors Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch, they criticised the show playing into unfounded incest theories surrounding Erik and Lyle.

In one scene, reporter Dominick Dunne suggests that Lyle and Erik killed José and Kitty Menendez over worries that their parents would discover that they were secretly lovers. We're then shown an imagined scenario in which Kitty walks in on Lyle and Erik scrubbing each others bodies and showering together. Kitty reacts in horror.

Nevertheless, it's a scene in episode 2 where Lyle kisses Erik on the lips that's truly come under fire. Now, Cooper has addressed it.

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Cooper Koch addresses Erik and Lyle Menendez kiss in Monsters

Were the Menendez brothers lovers?

In episode 2, Erik and Lyle go on a spending spree in the wake of killing their parents. At a hotel in Bel-Air, Erik tells a high Lyle to be more careful with money. Lyle then grabs Erik by the neck and goes on a rant about how they should be able to do whatever they want. The scene ends with Lyle briefly kissing Erik on the lips.

While the kiss isn't necessarily sexual, people have criticised Monsters for including it in the show based on the way that Lyle and Erik's relationship has been put under scrutiny ever since their case first came to light.

In real life, deputy district attorney Lester Kuriyama suggested that Lyle and Erik committed parricide because they were secretly together and this caught on in the media. However, this was only speculation.

When asked to describe his most frightening kiss on Watch What Happens Live, Cooper Koch joked: "I mean when Nicholas kissed me in the scene in the hotel, that was pretty frightening."

Seemingly alluding to the backlash the scene received, he added: "Not just for me but for a lot of people."

Were the Menendez brothers lovers? Picture: Netflix

Cooper previously defended Monsters for portraying aspects of the incest theories surrounding Lyle and Erik. Talking to Variety, Cooper said: "I knew that this was a very controversial story, and that people were going to be upset and affected by what they were seeing. I think though, you have to put it into context of the situation.

Cooper added: "It’s not necessarily the truth of what happened. That’s just what Dominick Dunne thinks and there I think are other places in the story where it’s sort of planted to give people all of these different perspectives."

As for his personal opinion, Cooper said: "I do not think that’s true. 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."