Kim Kardashian has reportedly visited two brothers currently serving life sentences for the brutal murder of their parents in California 35 years ago.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of shooting Jose and Kitty Menendez multiple times at close range in their mansion in Beverly Hills on 20 August 1989. The brothers were 21 and 18 at the time.
A Netflix drama based on the true-life crime is currently top of the Netflix viewing chart.
The brothers were among inmates listening to Kardashian speak about prison reform at San Diego County’s Richard J Donovan Correctional Facility, according to US entertainment outlet TMZ.
Both brothers have been involved in a project called Greenspace, encouraging inmates to improve the appearance of prison yards to assist in their rehabilitation.
Kim was said to be with her sister Khloé, her mother Kris, and the actor who plays Erik in the Netflix show, Cooper Koch.
Last week, the real Erik Menendez criticised the Netflix show, calling it “dishonest” and “inaccurate”, hitting out at what he called “blatant lies” that made up the characterisation of his elder brother Lyle.
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In a statement shared by Erik’s wife Tammi on X, he said: “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show. I can only believe they were done so on purpose”.
He went on to accuse the show’s creator, Ryan Murphy, of “bad intent,” and said the show put back the cause of male sexual assault victims by many years.
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The brothers claimed they committed the murders in self-defence after many years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
The prosecution argued they killed their parents to receive a large inheritance.
‘It’s hard to see your life up on screen’
Murphy, who made the first series of Monster about US serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, responded to the comments, saying Erik had not actually seen the show, and that it was his obligation as the show’s creator to portray both sides of the story.
Murphy told Entertainment Tonight: “It’s really hard, if it’s your life, to see your life up on screen…
“There were four people involved, two people are dead, what about the parents? We had an obligation as storytellers to also try and put in their perspective based on our research, which we did.”
Speaking to reporters at the premiere of the series in Los Angeles last week, Cooper Koch said he carried out a lot of research for the show.
The actor who plays Erik said: “I just read everything that I could. I watched the entire trial. I slept with that trial on. So, like, I went to sleep listening to Erik [Menendez] and Leslie [Hope Abramson – the lawyer who defended the brothers] on the stand.”
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, stars Javier Bardem, Chloë Sevigny, Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez, and is streaming now on Netflix.
Donald Trump says a meeting is being set up between himself and Vladimir Putin – and that he and Barack Obama “probably” like each other.
Republican US president-elect Mr Trump spoke to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday, saying Russian president Mr Putin “wants to meet, and we are setting it up”.
“He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” Mr Trump said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday there was a “mutual desire” to set up a meeting – but added no details had been confirmed yet and that there may be progress once Mr Trump is inaugurated on 20 January.
“Moscow has repeatedly declared its openness to contacts with international leaders, including the US president, including Donald Trump,” Mr Peskov added.
“What is required is a mutual desire and political will to conduct dialogue and resolve existing problems through dialogue. We see that Mr Trump also declares his readiness to resolve problems through dialogue. We welcome this. There are still no specifics, we proceed from the mutual readiness for the meeting.”
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Trump on Obama: ‘We just got along’
Mr Trump also made some lighter remarks regarding a viral exchange between himself and former Democrat President Barack Obamaat Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Thursday.
The pairsat together for the late president’s service in Washington DC on Thursday, and could be seen speaking for several minutes as the remaining mourners filed in before it began.
Mr Obama was seen nodding as his successor spoke before breaking into a grin.
Asked about the exchange, Mr Trump said: “I didn’t realise how friendly it looked.
“I said, ‘boy, they look like two people that like each other’. And we probably do.
“We have a little different philosophies, right? But we probably do. I don’t know. We just got along. But I got along with just about everybody.”
The amicable exchange comes after years of criticising each other in the public eye; it was Mr Trump who spread the so-called “birther” conspiracy theory about Mr Obama in 2011, falsely asserting that he was not born in the United States.
Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked the Obamas, saying the former president was “ineffective” and “terrible” and calling former first lady Michelle Obama “nasty” as recently as October last year.
On Kamala Harris’s campaign trail last year, Mr Obama said Mr Trump was a “78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago”, while the former first lady said that “the consequences of him ever being president again are brutally serious.”
The US Supreme Court has rejected a last-ditch attempt by Donald Trump to delay sentencing in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.
The president-elect was convicted on 34 counts last May in New York of falsifying business records relating to payments made to Ms Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Prosecutors claimed he had paid her $130,000 (£105,300) in hush money to not reveal details of what Ms Daniels said was a sexual relationship in 2006.
Mr Trump has denied any liaison with Ms Daniels or any wrongdoing.
By a majority, the Supreme Court found his sentencing would not be an insurmountable burden during the presidential transition since the presiding judge, Juan M Merchan, has indicated he will not give Mr Trump jail time, fines or probation.
Mr Trump’s attorneys argued that evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling giving Mr Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president.
At the least, they said, the sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out to avoid distracting Mr Trump during the presidential transition.
Mr Trump’s attorneys went to the justices after New York courts refused to postpone sentencing.
Judges in New York found that the convictions related to personal matters rather than Mr Trump’s official acts as president.
Mr Trump’s attorneys called the case politically motivated, and they said sentencing him now would be a “grave injustice” that threatens to disrupt the presidential transition as the Republican prepares to return to the White House.
Mr Trump has said he will appeal again: “I respect the court’s opinion – I think it was actually a very good opinion for us because you saw what they said, but they invited the appeal and the appeal is on the bigger issue. So, we’ll see how it works out,” he said at a dinner with Republican governors at his private club in Florida.
Because the New York case was a state, rather than federal crime, Mr Trump will not be able to pardon himself when he takes office on 20 January.