Kim Kardashian Calls for Lyle and Erik Menendez’s Prison Sentence to Be “Reconsidered”

Kim Kardashian stands with the Menendez brothers. In an op-ed for NBC News, the reality star and entrepreneur expressed her belief that Lyle and Erik Menendez’s sentences should be “reconsidered.” The brothers are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole after being convicted in 1996 for murdering their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez.

Ryan Murphy’s controversial true crime anthology series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, which debuted on Netflix on September 19, has reignited conversation around the Menendez brothers’ case and trial. On September 21, Kardashian, who starred in Murphy’s American Horror Story: Delicate, visited the Richard J. Donovan Correction Facility to meet a group of inmates, including the Menendez brothers. Kardashian was accompanied by Monsters star Cooper Koch, who plays Erik, as well as Khloé Kardashian, Kris Jenner, and film producer and Anti-Recidivism Coalition founder, Scott Budnick.

“I have spent time with Lyle and Erik; they are not monsters,” wrote Kardashian. “They are kind, intelligent, and honest men. In prison, they both have exemplary disciplinary records. They have earned multiple college degrees, worked as caregivers for elderly incarcerated individuals in hospice, and been mentors in college programs—committed to giving back to others. When I visited the prison three weeks ago, one of the wardens told me he would feel comfortable having them as neighbors. Twenty-four family members, including their parents’ siblings, have released statements fully supporting Lyle and Erik and have respectfully requested that the justice system free them.”

Kardashian’s plea comes at the heels of a report that Los Angeles prosecutors are reviewing new evidence in the Menendez brothers’ case after their attorneys asked a court to vacate their conviction. Both brothers have maintained that they were physically, emotionally, and sexually abused by their parents for years leading up to the murders. After their televised first trials ended in two hung juries and declared mistrials, the brothers were tried together before a single jury. In the second trial, much of the evidence concerning their alleged sexual abuse was deemed inadmissible, and manslaughter was no longer an option. They were found guilty of first-degree murder and have been serving a life sentence since.

Kardashian’s dedication to criminal justice reform is well-documented. Inspired by her late father, Robert Kardashian (one of the famed “dream team” defense attorneys for O.J. Simpson), Kardashian has been pursuing a law degree since 2018, passing the “baby bar” exam in December 2021 and using her celebrity status to advocate for prison reform. In her op-ed, Kardashian mentions Simpson’s case, noting that the Menendez brothers’ second trial began just eight days after Simpson’s acquittal. She also highlighted the ways in which society at the time was ill-equipped to deal with sexual abuse allegations, particularly from young men, calling out Saturday Night Live and other media programs for turning the brothers alleged abuse into “entertainment for the nation.”

“Erik and Lyle had no chance of a fair trial against this backdrop,” continued Kardashian. “Back then, there were limited resources for victims of sexual abuse, particularly for boys. There were virtually no systems in place to support survivors, and public awareness of the trauma of male sexual abuse was minimal, often clouded by preconceived judgments and homophobia. Can anyone honestly deny that the justice system would have treated the Menendez sisters more leniently?”

For his part, Murphy believes that the brothers deserve another day in court. “I think at the end of the day, if there is new evidence and there are facts that have not been presented, they should be presented, and someone in an official capacity should hear it and maybe change their opinion about the rest of the lives of these boys,” he told Vanity Fair. “And I think talking about prison reform as Cooper and Kim Kardashian are doing, it’s very necessary and interesting.”

Kardashian ends her missive by highlighting new evidence not included in the trial, and with an emotional plea on behalf of the Menendez brothers. “With their case back in the spotlight—and considering the revelation of a 1988 letter from Erik to his cousin describing the abuse—my hope is that Erik and Lyle Menendez’s life sentences are reconsidered,” she writes. “We owe it to those little boys who lost their childhoods, who never had a chance to be heard, helped or saved.”