Why Netflix Wants More True-Crime Shows Despite Legal Drama [Video]

“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” about the title characters’ 1989 murders of their parents, quickly shot to No. 1 on Netflix, and just as quickly sparked backlash from people the show portrays over its accuracy.

Meanwhile, Netflix faces defamation lawsuits over other popular titles based on real-life drama, such as the stalker saga “Baby Reindeer” and “Inventing Anna” about the Anna Sorokin (aka Anna Delvey) scam. By The Wall Street Journal’s count, there have been more than 20 defamation suits filed in the US against Netflix and its production partners since 2019 over real-life stories that were the subject of Netflix programming, with at least six such suits filed this year. The Journal reported that the rise in litigation has driven up the cost of making such programming.

But that hasn’t dulled Netflix’s thirst for crime fare, which shows no sign of letting up, according to Business Insider’s interviews with agents and producers, as …