How does Rosie O’Donnell know the Menendez brothers? About their connection

As the Menendez brothers await a review of new evidence related to their 1996 murder conviction , they have one particularly vocal supporter in their corner: Rosie O'Donnell.

O'Donnell has grown close to the Menendez brothers, advocating for them on social media and even visiting them in prison . Lyle Menendez also appeared as a guest on her "Onward" podcast last September.

On Oct. 16, O'Donnell is expected to speak at a press conference in front of a Los Angeles criminal courthouse alongside the Menendez family and the brothers' defense attorney.

While their personal relationship formed in the last few years, O'Donnell's support of the brothers began decades ago when she defended them on "Larry King Live" in the 1990s, prompting Lyle Menendez to write her a letter.

Erik and Lyle Menendez were charged with the 1989 murder of their parents , Jose and Kitty Menendez, and they have been serving life sentences without chance of parole since their conviction in 1996.

While O'Donnell does not dispute that the brothers committed these crimes, she has opened up about her compassion for their claims that they were molested for years by their father.

"I believe them. They were horribly abused by their parents. They did the unthinkable, which had been done to them day after day after day," she said in a June 2023 TikTok video . "And they paid the price for that."

On Oct. 3, the Los Angeles County district attorney said his office would review what he called new evidence alleging the brothers were sexually abused by their father. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 26.

The review could lead to a possible reevaluation of the brothers' sentences, which O'Donnell is hopeful about.

"I believe that they should be released," she said in a May 2023 TikTok video .

Read on to learn more about the connection between Rosie O'Donnell and Erik and Lyle Menendez.

O'Donnell has long supported the Menendez brothers

O'Donnell's connection to the Menendez brothers goes back decades. According to an interview O'Donnell gave to Variety earlier in October, she spoke about their case on "Larry King Live" about 30 years ago, saying she believed the brothers' claims that they had been sexually abused by their father, Jose Menendez .

Both Lyle and Erik Menendez have accused their father of abusing them. Lyle Menendez testified in his first trial that his father had molested him between the ages 6 to 8, according to the 2018 book "The Menendez Murders." Erik Menendez also testified that his father began sexually abusing him at age 6, according to the book.

O'Donnell said that in 1996, after talking about their case on "Larry King Live," Lyle Menendez wrote her a letter.

"It basically said, 'I know you know. And I hope we can connect,'" O'Donnell said in a June 2023 TikTok video . She said she didn't reply to his letter at the time because she "felt afraid" and "wasn't ready to touch the subject."

In May 2023, she renewed her public support for the brothers after viewing the Peacock documentary series "Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed." (Peacock is part of TODAY's parent company, NBCUniversal.)

In the series, Roy Roselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, alleged that Jose Menendez, who was the head of RCA Records at the time, had drugged and raped him.

Soon after the series came out last year, Erik and Lyle Menendez filed a petition asking the court to reconsider their life sentences based on new evidence.

O'Donnell said in a May 2023 TikTok that seeing the series reinforced her belief that the Menendez brothers' murders should be viewed in the context of their alleged childhood trauma.

"I always believed that nobody would really kill their parents for fun ... I just believed that. As human beings we're not wired that way," she said.

O'Donnell visited the brothers in prison last year

O'Donnell revealed that she visited Erik and Lyle Menendez last year at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

"I saw Lyle and gave him a hug," she told Variety . "Then Erik came over to me, hugged me, and whispered in my ear, 'Thank you for loving my brother.' It was very, very moving to me."

She has an especially close bond with Lyle Menendez, whose wife, Rebecca Sneed , helped put them in touch last year.

"We talk a lot," O'Donnell told Variety of Lyle Menendez. "I told them I would do what I could with whatever dwindling fame I have to bring light to their story."

In September 2023, Lyle Menendez appeared on the "Onward with Rosie O'Donnell" podcast, speaking to her by phone from prison.

He opened up about what inspired him to reach out to her in 1996 after seeing her defend him on "Larry King Live."

"I wrote you way back in the early '90s ... and I had a feeling that you had a similar history that I had in some ways," he said. "I just could feel it for some reason. Survivors are connected like that."

Today, O'Donnell said she is in frequent contact with the brothers, and said she sent them a supportive message when she learned of the new court hearing scheduled in November.

"As soon as the news dropped, I sent them a text and said, 'It's really happening. Now, put that smile on your face. Here we go,'" she told Variety. "This is what they've been waiting for for so many decades, and it's about time."

O'Donnell thinks the brothers could be released 'sooner than later'

O'Donnell said she feels hopeful about the Menendez brothers' fate, telling Variety in October she believes they could be released from prison "sooner than later."

"I don't think they're going to make them wait very much longer," she said.

She said she was heartened by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón's Oct. 3 announcement that his office will review what he said is new evidence alleging the brothers were sexually abused by their father. At the conference, he said prosecutors have the discretion to determine if inmates could be resentenced after reviewing new evidence. Inmates could "walk out based on what the court decides," suggesting the possibility that the Menendez brothers could be released.

In O'Donnell's eyes, Lyle and Erik Menendez have paid enough for their crimes.

"These two boys who suffered 20 years in their house, and 30 years in prison, have served enough time," she said on "Cuomo" last year.