Sophia Michaels
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story creator Ryan Murphy has hit back at claims that he did not reach out to victims’ families prior to the show’s release on Netflix, which resulted in what one victim’s family member called a “retraumatizing” of the events.
Following Monster’s release in Sept., several victims’ family members turned to social media to criticize the show for not only turning their tragedy into entertainment — but not even warning them ahead of time.
However, speaking at an event Thursday in Los Angeles, Murphy insisted that family members were contacted during the script phase of the limited series.
“Over the course of the three, three and a half years when we were really writing it, working on it, we reached out to 20, around 20 of the victims’ families and friends trying to get input, trying to talk to people,” Murphy said (via The Hollywood Reporter), “and not a single person responded to us in that process.”
While it’s unclear who and which of the victims’ families were supposedly contacted and how many attempts were made to do so, some of the more notable family members — including some even featured as characters on Monster — insisted they were never approached. (And given that not a single person responded to Murphy, yet members of the press were able to contact the families after the series was released, something here isn’t lining up.)
“I was never contacted about the show,” Rita Isbell, sister of Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey, previously told Insider. “I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it. But I’m not money hungry, and that’s what this show is about, Netflix trying to get paid.” A character based on Isbell appears in Monster, wearing the same clothing her real-life counterpart wore during an emotional press conference.
“They don’t notify families when they do this. It’s all public record, so they don’t have to notify (or pay!) anyone. My family found out when everyone else did,” Eric Berry, another member of the Isbell family, tweeted. “So when they say they’re doing this ‘with respect to the victims’ or ‘honoring the dignity of the families,’ no one contacts them. My cousins wake up every few months at this point with a bunch of calls and messages and they know there’s another Dahmer show. It’s cruel.”
Without the direct involvement of victims’ families, “We relied very, very heavily on our incredible group of researchers who…I don’t even know how they found a lot of this stuff,” Murphy said. “But it was just like a night and day effort to us trying to uncover the truth of these people.”
