Netflix hasn't seen the end of its Jeffrey Dahmer controversy just yet. In September, the streamer released the narrative series Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Created by Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy, the series stars Evan Peters as Dahmer, though Richard Jenkins is also featured in a key role as the cannibalistic murderer's father, Lionel Dahmer. Now, per The Sun, the real Lionel is believed to be mulling a lawsuit against Netflix and the production team over his portrayal in the series.
According to the story, the 86-year-old is dissatisfied that he was not approached previously by anyone in the production. He is also claimed to be unhappy over Netflix using audio footage captured by his son's lawyers for the unrelated docuseries Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes. Worse even for the elder Dahmer, he believes the renewed attention on the murders had left him a "nervous wreck" with true crime devotees lining up outside of his rural Ohio house wanting to catch a glance at him. Dahmer reportedly obtained a handgun for protection and is pondering legal action as his next step.
"From my understanding and from everything that I've seen and witnessed directly, Lionel was not informed about either of these films on Netflix," Dahmer's aide, Jeb, told The Sun. “I’ve personally talked to a couple lawyers and we’ve talked to his publisher about it too owing to all the chaos that is going on and the tales we’ve seen. Lionel and his power of attorney are gathering material and looking at a prospective lawsuit against the production team or possibly Netflix."
He continued, "Everyone is suggesting that if there was zero correspondence you claim damages. There was none care whatsoever regarding Lionel’s wellbeing.”
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Didn't Portray Lionel Fairly, His Assistant Says
According to Jeb, Dahmer has not viewed the Netflix series in full. From what he's been told, though, he believes his representation inaccurately depicts him in a negative light. For his part, Dahmer would rather not see any script series such as Monster be developed, preferring people hear the narrative as he tells it by referring to his 1994 memoir A Father's Story.
“Lionel was an extremely caring parent. He was only trying to do his best in a time of uncertainty," Jeb adds. "He argues that none of this should have been made, all the information that needs to be public is right there in his book. Everything else is just glamorised and provides attention to elements that aren’t verified reality. They don’t know the conservations between Jeff and the victims... None of this has been helpful for him.”
Jeb also wanted to clear up any claims that Lionel Dahmer had benefitted from the series, as he was not paid at all for any of the new Dahmer-focused Netflix specials. It's also denied that any of this was done as a purpose of further promoting Dahmer's book as some have argued. It's said that these rumours have further exacerbated difficulty for Dahmer with the family members of some of the victims becoming involved.
“Some people call him slime or filth, there’s a lot of folks who think he shouldn’t be earning off of this," Jeb remarked. "He’s not, he hasn’t made a dollar off any of this. If anything, he’s going to have to pay extra to stop this. There were a handful of reports (after the programmes came out) where they reported that Lionel sold Jeff’s spectacles for $150,000 and that’s not accurate. That right there gets the victims’ families in an uproar because there was a lawsuit that Lionel could not profit from Jeff. We've seen four or five family members of the victims come out about this stuff, one saying that if Lionel is making money off this, then he’s just scum."
