Jimmy Kimmel took a playful jab at Peyton and Eli Manning by comparing them to convicted murderers Erik and Lyle Menéndez.
During the Disney Upfronts on Tuesday, May 13, Kimmel, 57, delivered a monologue that roasted the Manning brothers after they performed a musical number at the event. Peyton, 49, and Eli, 44, who were promoting their upcoming Hulu series Chad Powers, tried to insert their last name into some hit ABC shows — High Potential, Abbott Elementary and Paradise.
Kimmel, meanwhile, threw shade at rival networks CBS and NBC before addressing the opening number, quipping, “I do want to thank the Manning brothers for finally answering the question, ‘What if two jars of mayonnaise could sing?’ The answer is, they can’t.”
The late night host took it even further by bringing up Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57.
“That was worse than what the Menéndez brothers did,” he joked, which elicited groans from the audience. “Too soon or too late?”
Kimmel’s roast came the same day that Erik and Lyle were resentenced to 50 years to life, which now makes them eligible for parole under California’s youthful offender law since they committed their crime under the age of 26. The state parole board must still decide whether to release them from prison.
Erik and Lyle are both currently serving out their sentences in California’s Donovan Correctional Facility after being arrested in 1990 on two counts of first-degree murder. They became persons of interest after their parents, José and Kitty Menéndez, were found shot in their home. Due to a confession given to their therapist — which they didn’t realize was being taped — Erik and Lyle ultimately admitted to killing their parents following years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
The Menéndez brothers were ultimately found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole in 1996 after two high-profile trials. While their prior attempts to appeal the decision were denied, recent projects such as Monsters, The Menéndez Brothers and more offered Erik and Lyle another chance at a resentencing.
“I think Monsters had unintended consequences. The caricature that was Monsters so inflamed the people who were supportive that the backlash is what was important,” Erik and Lyle’s attorney Mark Geragos told Entertainment Tonight in October 2024, referring to Ryan Murphy’s scripted show about the murder case, which received criticism from viewers and Erik himself. “I can’t think of two more exemplary people with very little hope who still continue to do massively good work.”
One month after the release of Monsters, former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced that another hearing was set due to new evidence in Lyle and Erik’s murder case. Netflix’s The Menéndez Brothers offered Erik and Lyle the chance to share their side of the story three decades after their arrest.
“I do worry and I think it is important that the seriousness of my crime not be minimized or diminished,” Erik said in the documentary, which was released in October 2024. “I went to the only person that had ever helped me and that had ever protected me. Then ultimately this happened because of me. Because I went to him. Then afterwards, he was arrested because of me. Because I couldn’t live with what I did, I couldn’t. I wanted to die. In a way, I did not protect Lyle. I got him into every aspect of this tragedy. Every aspect of this tragedy is my fault.”
Lyle, meanwhile, admitted he still blamed himself for the events that took place.
“For me, I never could escape that night. That night just floods back into your mind a lot,” he noted in the doc. “I never found understanding. I sometimes feel like I rescued Erik. But did I? Look at his life now. It feels impossible that I couldn’t do better. I couldn’t rescue all of us.”
