​​Mackenzie Shirilla’s Dad Says Netflix’s ‘The Crash’ Twisted His Words About Marijuana

Mackenzie Shirilla‘s father is firing back after Netflix’s documentary The Crash cost him his job.

The Crash was released on Thursday, May 15, and just days later, Steve Shirilla was placed on paid administrative leave after the documentary drew fierce backlash from viewers and concerned parents. The school emailed parents to confirm that a teacher had been placed on leave following allegations of “poor judgment,” 19 News reported on Monday, May 19.

Speaking on TMZ Live the same day, Steve said the diocese had been “inundated” with complaints from concerned parents after the film dropped.

At the center of the backlash are Steve’s comments about Mackenzie’s teenage marijuana use.

In the doc, Steve says, “I don’t have a problem with her smoking dope. If you’re going to smoke a drug, that’s the one I believe you should take.”

Steve says the filmmakers condensed days of interviews into a handful of brief sound bites, stripping his remarks of their full context. He also says he had no idea Mackenzie was allegedly smoking while driving before the deadly crash.

“If I had known, I would have had huge issues with it,” he told TMZ.

Steve has not wavered in his defense of his daughter. “There is zero evidence of intent and prior calculation in this case,” he added.

The Crash centers on the 2022 case in which Mackenzie was convicted of murder after prosecutors alleged she intentionally drove nearly 100 mph into a building, killing her boyfriend Dominic Russo and friend Davion Flanagan. She was convicted in 2023 and is currently serving a life sentence with parole eligibility after 15 years.

The Crash is streaming now on Netflix.