The mother of one of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims is outraged at Evan Peters’ recent Golden Globes victory for his role as the notorious serial killer in Netflix’s Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
Shirley Hughes, whose son Tony was Dahmer’s 12th victim, told TMZ that Peters had further insulted the victim’s families by failing to acknowledge their suffering in his acceptance speech.
Peters won the Golden Globe for best actor in a limited or anthology series on Tuesday, and in a brief speech thanked director Ryan Murphy, the cast and crew and “everyone who watched”.
“It was a difficult one to make, it was a difficult one to watch, but I sincerely hope some good came out of it,” he said.
Shirley Hughes told TMZ that the series had brought up painful memories for her and other families, and that nothing good could come from the show or the award.
“There's a lot of sick people around the world, and people winning acting roles from playing killers keeps the obsession going and this makes sick people thrive on the fame,” she told the tabloid news site. “It’s a shame that people can take our tragedy and make money. The victims never saw a cent. We go through these emotions every day.”
The 10-part series, which depicted in gruesome detail Dahmer’s killing spree in Milwaukee, broke streaming records when it was released last September.
Peters released a promotional video stating that the filmmakers felt it was important to be “respectful to the victims, to the victims’ families”.
However, families said they were blindsided by the show and hadn’t even been notified it was coming out.
In an essay for Insider, Rita Isbell, the sister of Dahmer’s victim Errol Lindsay, accused Netflix of trying to “make money off of this tragedy”.
“I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it,” she wrote.
Monster was also nominated for best television limited series, which was won by White Lotus. Niecy Nash was nominated for best supporting actress, losing out to Jennifer Coolidge, and Richard Jenkins, was nominated for best supporting actor.
