Shirley, the mother of Jeffrey Dahmer murder victim Tony Hughes, reportedly lashed out against actor Evan Peters for portraying the serial killer on Netflix and for the speech he gave after winning a Golden Globe for his performance.
Dahmer murdered Hughes in 1991. He dismembered the body but kept Hughes’ skull, which law enforcement later recovered and identified.
Shirley said that, in his acceptance speech, Peters should have mentioned the families who are still suffering from Dahmer’s crimes, according to TMZ. She also said she had hoped Peters would take stand against Hollywood glorifying serious killers by making movies about their heinous crimes, the outlet reported.
Peters won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series for his depiction of Dahmer in the Netflix miniseries “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.”
Shirley Hughes, the mother of victim Tony Hughes, has slammed Netflix’s ‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,’ adding, ‘I don’t see how they can use our names and put stuff out like that out there.’ https://t.co/5xUo3W6wJD
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) October 14, 2022
“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,” Shirley said, according to TMZ.
Evans did touch on the sensitive nature of his project during his acceptance speech by saying he hoped something good would come from his win, and from the series itself, but that wasn’t enough to satisfy Shirley, according to TMZ.
Shirley reportedly said that nothing “good” could possibly come from Evan’s winning an award for portraying the violence Dahmer inflicted upon his victims. She added that having to replay the tragedy over and over with constant reminders of Dahmer’s crimes adds to the grief of the victims’ families, according to TMZ. (RELATED: Jeffrey Dahmer’s Dad Tells Dr. Phil That He Missed Opportunities To Stop His Son’s Killing Spree)
Check out this clip of our client @karen_malina as Shirley Hughes in @Netflix series #Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story alongside clip of the real Shirley Hughes! #Dahmer #actress #AEM #AllenEdelmanManagement #actorslife #actorsofcolor #diversity #tvdrama pic.twitter.com/hiXXL2DrxA
— AEM (@allenedelman) September 26, 2022
Peters addressed how challenging it was for him to take on the role of Dahmer, but Shirley questioned why he took on the role in the first place, if that was how he genuinely felt about the situation, according to TMZ.
“It’s a shame that people can take our tragedy and make money. The victims never saw a cent,” Shirley said, according to TMZ. “We go through these emotions every day.”