Ryan Murphy is defending his latest Netflix series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” which has generated controversy since its streaming debut on Sept. 19. The series covers the 1989 murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez by their sons Lyle and Erik and the subsequent trials that ended with their conviction in 1996. The real Erik Menendez has sharply criticized the series, saying Murphy was “naive and inaccurate” in his portrayal of the brothers.

“I think it's interesting that he made a statement without having seen the show,” Murphy said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight in response to Erik's criticism. “It's really, really hard — when it's your life on the line — to see your life on the screen.”

“I think it's interesting that he doesn't mention it in his quote. If you look at the show, I would say 60 to 65 percent of our show in the scripts and in the film form is about the abuse and what they say happened to them,” Murphy continued. “And we're very careful about that and giving them their day in court and they talk openly about it.”

Murphy co-created “Monsters” and wrote several episodes. He said that dealing with sexual abuse issues on television “can be controversial,” but stressed that it was important for his show to consider and represent all of the viewpoints raised during the murder trial.

“It's kind of a 'Rashomon' approach where there were four people involved,” Murphy said. “Two of them are dead. What about the parents? As storytellers, we had an obligation to also try to bring in their perspective based on our research, which we did.”

One of the most controversial elements of Monsters are scenes that show Erik and Lyle having a homoerotic and incestuous relationship. At one point in the series, the two brothers are even seen showering together. Asked about the “romantic relationship” that develops between the brothers, Murphy again said that it was all based on a real point of view that emerged during the process.

“If you watch the show, it presents the viewpoints and theories of so many people who were involved in the case,” Murphy said. “Dominick Dunne (the Vanity Fair journalist played by Nathan Lane) has written several articles on this theory. We present his viewpoint. And we were obligated to show all of that, and that's what we did.”

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is now available on Netflix. Watch Murphy's full interview with Entertainment Tonight in the video below.