Cooper Koch Shares Message from Lyle Menendez at 2025 Emmys After He Was Denied Parole By Liza Esquibias

Lyle Menendez offered some words of encouragement to Cooper Koch ahead of the 2025 Emmy Awards.

The actor, who earned his first nomination for his portrayal of Lyle’s brother Erik Menendez in Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, shared the message while walking the red carpet on Sunday, Sept. 14. 

“He said to me, ‘For so many, what you brilliantly portrayed is their reality,’” Koch read aloud during an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “‘The goal is not accolades. The goal is to bring awareness. We are stronger together. Love you, brother.’”

“Isn’t that so sweet?” he asked, revealing that he talks to the two “every once in a while” since first meeting them last year.

Erik and Lyle are currently serving life sentences for the 1990 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty, following years of alleged sexual abuse by their Hollywood executive father. Despite recently being up for parole, they were both denied, which Koch called “very sad.”

“But it’s very common for it to not go your way the first time, and they will have another chance sooner rather than later,” he noted. “So I’m just continuing to keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best and send them lots of love. Especially also their family and all of their supporters too.”

When it comes to the success of telling the brothers’ story through the Ryan Murphy Netflix series, Koch said he wasn’t surprised it became an instant hit.

“I was so happy that that happened,” he explained. “That was sort of my goal all along. I always wanted it to be more than just a show, and I wanted people to, like what Lyle said, to bring awareness to this thing that happens in families and not only in families but just to people.”

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The fan support is all Koch needed, he continued, telling the outlet that he won’t be disappointed if he lost the Emmy. It ultimately went to Stephen Graham for Adolescence.

“I’ve already won,” Koch gushed. “I’ve already won a thousand times over, so I’m just so happy to be here and I’m gonna go have a great night.”

This wasn’t the first time Koch and Lyle connected about the show’s recognition at the 77th annual Emmys. When nominations came out in July, they also talked.

“I spoke [with] Lyle today,” Koch shared on an episode of Entertainment Weekly’s podcast, The Awardist. “He called to send his congrats and was very, very sweet.”

“He was jealous that I was at Wimbledon this weekend,” he added. “He was just so, so sweet … and they’re doing really well.”

That morning, Koch admitted he was “so nervous” waiting for nominations to be announced.

“It’s just a terrible morning,” he joked. “You’re so anxious and you’re just playing that game with yourself of like, ‘You know what? It’s okay either way. It’s okay. I’m going to die one day and no one’s going to remember or care if I had an Emmy nomination or not.’”

Still, Koch said that the “best part about this whole thing was just getting the opportunity to be a part of this show and tell this story and just embody this person who I just care so deeply about.”

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Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story is now available to stream on Netflix.