Erik Menéndez Slams Ryan Murphy’s New Monsters Series as ‘Horrible’ and Full of ‘Blatant Lies’

Erik Menéndez is speaking out about a new series based on his life.

On Friday, Sept. 20, Erik — one of the subjects of Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story — released a statement on his brother Lyle Menéndez’s Facebook page slamming Ryan Murphy’s latest show.

Erik, 53, trashed the portrayals of himself and Lyle, 56, who claim they were abused by their parents and had murdered them in self-defense. He reflected on the trauma and violence they experienced in their childhood and claimed the show doesn’t depict it accurately.

“I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show,” Erik began. “I can only believe they were done so on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.”

He continued: “It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women.”

Erik went on to claim that Murphy, 58, “shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and me and disheartening slander.”

“Is the truth not enough? Let the truth stand as the truth,” he added. “How demoralizing is it to know that one man with power can undermine decades of progress in shedding light on childhood trauma.”

Erik concluded his statement by thanking those who “have reached out and supported” him.

Representatives for Murphy and Netflix did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.          

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story follows Erik and Lyle and the murder of their parents José and Mary Louse “Kitty” Menéndez in August 1989, along with the subsequent trial in the early ’90s.

After they murdered their parents at their family home, Lyle called 911, sobbing and claiming that they were out to see a movie and came home to find their parents dead. The brothers weren’t arrested for the killings until months later.

Erik and Lyle were eventually both found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder. They were sentenced to life in prison without parole and are currently serving time at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch star as Lyle and Erik, respectively, in the limited series. Rounding out the cast are Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny as their parents.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is now available to stream on Netflix.