Wait, did Erik Menendez actually meet OJ Simpson in prison or was it made up for Monsters?

One of the wildest scenes in Ryan Murphy’s latest Netflix true crime anthology Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story comes when we see Erik Menendez speaking with OJ Simpson in prison as he awaits retrial. When watching the show, it’s unclear whether this actually happened in real life or if it’s a Ryan Murphy fabrication – especially considering the context that Ryan Murphy released an acclaimed true crime series about the Simpson case in 2016. So, did Lyle and Erik Menendez have an actual interaction with OJ Simpson as shown in Monsters? Here’s the full backstory.

Erik and Lyle actually met OJ Simpson in the 70s

This wasn’t really explored in Monsters, but Erik and Lyle Menendez actually first met OJ Simpson in the height of his fame in the 70s. Lyle and Erik first met OJ through a a deal Jose Menendez was sorting with Hertz rental cars for OJ. OJ also visited there Menendez house several times as a guest, and Lyle told People magazine later in life that they used to play catch with him and that he gave the brothers signed footballs!?

Lyle also bumped into OJ in a restaurant just a few months before they shot their parents in the now-infamous case.

OJ then actually DID become Erik’s neighbouring cellmate

Monsters was not lying – Erik and OJ did end up as cellmates next to each other in prison after OJ was arrested following the Bronco car chase through LA. Erik apparently advised OJ on what life was going to be like regarding media scrutiny because at this point the brothers had already been incarcerated for four years as their trial and retrial went on.

Erik wrote to OJ in a letter saying “When you cry—remember those tears. Hold them because you’re crying for your children, you’re crying for everything you’re losing.” Lyle also apparently advised OJ to plead guilty in the trial.  Erik also said how he felt that OJ’s not guilty verdict negatively affected his and Lyle’s retrial outcome. Erik said “Because this verdict was so shocking, there was this sense an extreme injustice had happened and now we’re gonna have to right it with every defendant that comes up. We were the next defendant.”

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Leslie Abramson: Where the Menendez lawyer is now, decades after the brothers’ trial

• The real Erik Menendez blasts ‘blatant lies’ told by Netflix show in bombshell statement

• Right, so just how rich was Lyle and Erik’s father José Menendez?

Featured image via Netflix and Sipa / Shutterstock.