Lyle and Eric Menendez I have more than a friend in comedian Rosie O’Donnell. He has an “older sister”.
O’Donnell is speaking about how she has supported the brothers, who are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole in the murders of their parents, Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menendez, in San Diego. Have been.
The men have seen a resurgence in their story thanks to documentaries and television series being made about them, most recently Netflix’s “Monsters: The Lyle and Eric Menendez Story,” which both the brothers have condemned.
Eric Menendez and his brother Lyle are photographed with attorney Leslie Abramson in 1991. (Mike Nelson/AFP via Getty Images)
O’Donnell says their history is complicated.
“I went out to lunch with Barbara Walters and our publicist Cindy Berger, and I said, ‘Barbara, you’re not going to believe this, but guess who texted me – Lyle Menendez,'” O’Donnell. told Variety“Barbara said, ‘Ignore him, he’s a killer. He’s very smart.'”
In 1996, Walters famously interviewed both Lyle and Eric in prison.
O’Donnell admitted that he did not respond, having only entered the brothers’ lives after watching a documentary two years earlier that contained new evidence that supported Lyle and Eric’s story; His father had abused him. O’Donnell opened up on social media and from there a relationship was born.
O’Donnell recalled, “I got a call from Lyle’s wife – I didn’t even know he had a wife – asking if I would talk to him.” “He called me on Mother’s Day last year.”
Rosie O’Donnell says that several years before forming a relationship with the Menendez brothers, she ignored a letter from Lyle because of a warning from Barbara Walters. (Olivia Wong/Getty Images)
Like what you’re reading? Click here for more entertainment news
Since then, O’Donnell and the brothers have established a kind of friendship that the former talk show host describes as almost familial.
“I feel like a big sister in a way. Lyle is one of the most admired inmates in the California prison system. You can’t ignore it. If he was some kind of psychopath who was yelling at everyone and a maniac Had he done so, would he have done everything he could to eventually move from San Francisco to his brother because he had 10 consecutive years without any violations? That neither can hide their mental illness for 35 years is devastating evidence of what exceptional prisoners they both have been.”
She met Lyle for the first time last year and greeted the older Menendez brother with a hug. “Then Eric came over to me, hugged me and whispered in my ear, ‘Thank you for loving me, my brother.’ It was very, very emotional for me.”
Lyle Menendez was photographed in court. (Kim Kulish/Sigma via Getty Images)
“I kind of feel like a big sister.”
O’Donnell said that he and Lyle “talk a lot.”
“I told him I would do whatever I could with my waning fame to shed light on his story. I said, ‘This isn’t the ’90s, Lyle. I’m not on that show anymore,'” his referring to talk show Which ended in 2002.
“The Rosie O’Donnell Show” aired from 1996 to 2002. (Frank Michelotta/Getty Images)
“I think if you feel strongly about something and you want to try to help society, you can use your voice because kids who are abused in their homes. , They have no voice. It’s up to the adults who were once such children to speak for them.”
The brothers are likely to be angry or even released new evidence The review is being conducted by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, he announced last week.
O’Donnell said he was made aware of this unprecedented decision before the media.
The Menendez brothers are both Richard J. Donovan is serving time in a correctional facility. These mugshots were taken for Lyle, left, and Eric in 2023. (California Department of Corrections)
“I told him I would do whatever I could with my waning fame to shed light on his story. I said, ‘This isn’t the ’90s, Lyle. I’m not on that show anymore.'”
“As soon as the news broke, I sent him a message and said, ‘This is really happening. Now, get that smile on your face. Here we go.’ This is what they have been waiting for for decades, and it is about time that we, as a society, say, ‘We made a mistake, and we did not understand what we understand today.’ It’s kind of a miracle, but I deserve it.”
Click here to sign up for the entertainment newsletter
“They’re excited,” she continued. “They’re happy. I came in as a cheerleader two years ago. I told them then, ‘You’re going to get out there.’ They didn’t really believe me, but I believe the wrong will be righted. They’re still reluctant to believe it’s going to happen.”
Eric and Lyle Menendez could potentially be released soon. (Kim Kulish/AFP via Getty Images)
Click here to get the Fox News app
O’Donnell already has plans with Lyle if he is indeed released.
“I’ve always told Lyle I’d take him to nobu Because he thinks it’s the right place to go,” she said of the luxury-chain Japanese-Peruvian restaurant frequented by celebrities. “Sometimes, I’d talk to him at night, and I’d say That my friends and I went to Nobu for lunch. I’d say, ‘Dude, when you get out, I’ll take you to Nobu.’ When I talked to him the other day he said, ‘When are we going to Nobu?’ I said, ‘Sooner than you think.'”
