José Menendez, the RCA Records executive murdered by his sons Erik and Lyle in 1989, has been publicly accused of sexually abusing at least one member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo during the 1980s. The accuser, former Menudo singer Roy Rosselló, first went public in a 2023 Peacock docuseries and expanded his claims in a 2025 federal lawsuit filed in New York. Those allegations became part of the Menendez brothers’ attempt to overturn their murder convictions, an attempt a Los Angeles judge rejected in September 2025.
How Menendez Came to Work With Menudo
José Menendez was chief operating officer of RCA-Ariola Records’ music division in the early to mid-1980s, having moved to the label in 1980 after a career at Hertz.1Los Angeles Times. Jose Menendez Career Profile He rebuilt RCA’s Latin catalog and signed Menudo, then one of the biggest pop acts in the Spanish-speaking world, to a major American recording deal.2Rolling Stone. Menendez Menudo Boys Betrayed Review Rosselló’s later civil complaint put the value of that contract at roughly $30 million.3Hollywood Reporter. Menudo Jose Menendez Sexual Assault Claims Lawsuits
Menudo was founded and managed by Edgardo Díaz. Menendez left RCA in 1986 after General Electric acquired the parent company, and he was running LIVE Entertainment when he and his wife, Kitty, were shot in their Beverly Hills home on August 20, 1989.1Los Angeles Times. Jose Menendez Career Profile
What Roy Rosselló Alleges
Rosselló was a member of Menudo from roughly 1983 to 1986. He first accused Menendez publicly in the 2023 Peacock docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.4CBS News. Menendez Brothers Resentencing Roy Rossello Menudo In the documentary, he described being raped by Menendez at the executive’s home in New Jersey before leaving the band. He said Menendez pressed him to drink a full glass of wine that left him feeling “tired and heavy” and “blurry,” and that he woke up in pain. “I could barely stand the pain. I couldn’t even move,” he said.5Oxygen. Menudo Roy Rossello Speaks Out Against Jose Menendez
The docuseries suggested that Díaz had offered Rosselló to Menendez “as a means to seal the deal” on the RCA contract.2Rolling Stone. Menendez Menudo Boys Betrayed Review Asked how he felt when he learned Menendez had been killed, Rosselló said, “A person that hurts a child and, on top of that, his own son, he doesn’t deserve to live.”5Oxygen. Menudo Roy Rossello Speaks Out Against Jose Menendez
The 2025 Federal Lawsuit
In May 2025, Rosselló expanded those claims in a 17-page civil complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, docketed as 25-cv-01699.3Hollywood Reporter. Menudo Jose Menendez Sexual Assault Claims Lawsuits The suit was brought under New York’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law. Díaz is the primary defendant. The complaint also formally accuses José Menendez of sexual assault, and one report identified the estate of José Menendez as a named defendant.6Latin Times. Former Menudo Star Sues Band Creator Over Decades of Rape
Where the docuseries described a single encounter, the complaint alleges multiple assaults between 1983 and 1986, at Menendez’s New Jersey home, a New York hotel after a Radio City Music Hall performance, and in Brazil.3Hollywood Reporter. Menudo Jose Menendez Sexual Assault Claims Lawsuits According to the complaint, Menendez took an “uncharacteristic interest” in the band, flew to Brazil for performances, and invited members to his home for barbecues. The complaint also alleges that Díaz personally assaulted Rosselló and facilitated the encounters with Menendez. Rosselló is seeking a jury trial. Díaz, now 77, has consistently denied the abuse allegations.
How the Claims Entered the Menendez Brothers’ Case
At their 1993 trial, Erik and Lyle Menendez testified that they killed their parents out of fear after years of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse by their father. That trial ended with two hung juries. At the 1995–96 retrial, Judge Stanley M. Weisberg sharply limited the abuse evidence and declined to instruct the jury on imperfect self-defense, and both brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.7U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Menendez v. Terhune
In May 2023, their legal team filed a habeas corpus petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court citing two pieces of what they called newly discovered evidence.8LA County District Attorney. District Attorney Gascon Announces Decision in Resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez One was a December 1988 letter from Erik to his cousin Andy Cano, written about eight months before the murders, in which Erik wrote: “I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now. … Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. … He’s warned me a hundred times about telling anyone, especially Lyle.”9CBS News. Menendez Brothers Abuse Claims Supported by Newly Discovered Evidence The other was a signed declaration from Rosselló describing being drugged and raped by José Menendez.10PBS NewsHour. Judge to Decide if Sex Abuse Evidence Will Set Menendez Brothers Free The defense argued Rosselló’s account corroborated the brothers’ longstanding claims and undermined the prosecution’s position that no independent evidence of José Menendez’s sexual abuse existed.
Why the Habeas Petition Was Denied
On September 15, 2025, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan rejected the petition, ruling that neither the Cano letter nor Rosselló’s declaration was strong enough to have produced reasonable doubt in a juror’s mind.11Los Angeles Times. Menendez Brothers Habeas Petition Decision On Rosselló’s declaration, the judge wrote that it “corroborates the general allegation that Jose was sexually abusive of boys and young men, but is not relevant to the Petitioners’ state of mind at the time of the murders.”12ABC News. Judge Denies Menendez Brothers Petition New Trial The court found the evidence “slightly corroborates” the abuse claims but was insufficient to negate the jury’s findings of premeditation.13Metropolitan News-Enterprise. Menendez Brothers Bid for New Trial Rejected District Attorney Nathan Hochman had made the same legal point in opposing the petition: the brothers did not know about Rosselló in 1989, so his account could not have shaped their state of mind at the time of the killings.14ABC 7 New York. Menendez Brothers Case LA County DA Nathan Hochman Provide Update
A $500 Million Defamation Suit Against the Docuseries
Not everyone accepts the Peacock docuseries account. On April 28, 2025, Darrin McGillis, a longtime Menudo promoter who holds rights to several of the band’s songs, filed a pro se lawsuit against NBCUniversal seeking at least $500 million in punitive damages.15Latin Times. Menudo Promoter Demands 500 Million From NBC Over Controversial Menendez Brothers Documentary McGillis alleges the documentary contains fabricated claims intended to tie Menudo to the Menendez scandal, that NBC paid Rosselló “a substantial amount of money” for a false account, and that a purported interview in which Ricky Martin described Menendez placing his hand down Martin’s pants during a trip to Disney World was fabricated by the producer. NBCUniversal had not publicly responded to the suit as of the date it was reported.
Where the Brothers’ Case Stands
Although the habeas petition failed, a parallel resentencing effort succeeded. On May 13, 2025, Judge Michael Jesic resentenced both brothers to 50 years to life, making them immediately eligible for parole under California’s youth offender laws because both were under 26 at the time of the crimes.16ABC News. Menendez Brothers Resentencing Hearing Both brothers went before the California parole board in August 2025 and were denied release. The board cited Erik’s repeated unauthorized cellphone use, prison fights, alleged gang work, drug purchases, and involvement in a tax scam.17PBS NewsHour. California Parole Board Denies Release for Erik Menendez Due to Misbehavior in Prison For Lyle, the board cited the “brutal nature” of the killings, “anti-social personality traits,” and his own illicit cellphone use.18BBC. Menendez Brothers Denied Parole Both can reapply in three years, or in as little as 18 months with good behavior. A clemency petition remains pending with Governor Gavin Newsom, whose parole board risk assessment categorized the brothers as posing a “moderate risk” if released.