Yahoo Lifestyle Kim Kardashian Met With Menendez Brothers In Prison After Netflix Series Premiered
Days after the premiere of a controversial Netflix docudrama about Lyle and Erik Menendez, brothers convicted of killing their parents in 1989, Kim Kardashian visited them at the San Diego prison where they are serving life sentences.
Kardashian has in recent years used her platform to advocate for criminal justice reform and has toured a number of prisons throughout California with film producer Scott Budnick, who founded the Anti-Recidivism Coalition.
The two had already planned to visit the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, Budnick told HuffPost. But after Kardashian met Cooper Koch, one of the stars of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” a dramatization of the case, Budnick told her the Mendendez brothers were there, and their trip to the prison was “expedited.”
Erik Menendez, played by Koch in “Monsters,” released a statement through his wife criticizing the show, calling it “full of lies.” But Budnick told HuffPost that the brothers “understand the net positive” of the series, despite its flaws.
“I know that both of them understand that, ultimately, the Netflix series is a fair series that shows their arrogance, but also shows that they went through sexual abuse and trauma that none of us would wish on our worst enemy,” Budnick said of the show, which was created by Ryan Murphy.
Kardashian’s mom, Kris Jenner, and sister Khloé joined her at the prison, where they met with about 40 men, including the Menendez brothers, Budnick said.
“To me, it was so beautiful, watching the pride on Kris’ face, of her watching Kim find this passion to give back and to help people,” Budnick said. “Kris was very poignant about how inspired she was by everyone’s testimony and their story, and how proud she is of Kim taking up this cause.”
Koch also met with Erik Menendez individually, Budnick said.
The prison visits are a “win-win” for both Kardashian and the people who are incarcerated, Budnick added. The reality TV star’s huge platform on social media also helps her highlight rehabilitative programs — but maybe more importantly, she brings “hope and inspiration to people on the inside that are working really, really hard to change their lives.”
“The No. 1 thing that I hear from people on the inside is that they feel invisible. They feel like they’re stripped out of society and no one remembers them anymore, and they’re not seen, they’re not heard, and no one knows the person they are today,” Budnick said.
Kardashian who has been studying law, will be taking the bar exam next year, “so letting her see different aspects of the criminal justice system” is also one of Budnick’s goals, he said.
Kardashian co-starred in the most recent season of Murphy’s horror franchise, “American Horror Story: Delicate,” and will reportedly play a divorce lawyer in his upcoming legal drama.
Budnick told HuffPost that though the Netflix series fairly portrays the brothers as arrogant rich kids, they are different men today.
“They’re so accountable and responsible, and they own the crime 100%. There’s nothing that resembles that today at all,” he said. “They’re the most humble, giving kind, always giving back, helping people, tutoring people, mentoring people.”
HuffPost reached out to Kim Kardashian and Koch, as well as the Menendez brothers’ attorney, Alexandra Kazarian, but did not get an immediate response.
Kardashian made headlines in 2018 for her White House meeting with then-President Donald Trump in a successful bid to commute the life sentence of a woman who’d served two decades for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense.
She returned to the White House in April to again discuss criminal justice reform, this time with Vice President Kamala Harris.
