Mackenzie Shirilla’s Dad Says Netflix Took Marijuana Comments Out of Context

Steve Shirilla is pushing back on the firestorm surrounding Netflix's documentary about his daughter ... insisting his comments about marijuana were twisted and people have misunderstood what he was trying to say.

Check it out ... Steve joined us on “TMZ Live” after being placed on paid leave from his Ohio Catholic school teaching job following backlash over "The Crash" ... centered around his daughter, Mackenzie Shirilla, who was convicted of murder in the 2022 crash that killed her boyfriend Dominic Russo and friend Davion Flanagan.

A major point of controversy has been Steve's remarks in the doc about Mackenzie smoking marijuana as a teenager ... but he says that interpretation is off base ... telling us the filmmakers condensed days of interviews into a few short sound bites and left out important context.

The doc shows him addressing Mackenzie's marijuana usage ... in which he 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.”

But he tells us he had no idea Mackenzie was allegedly smoking while driving before the deadly crash ... saying if he'd known, he would've "had huge issues with it."

Steve says the diocese told him they'd been "inundated" with complaints from concerned parents after the film dropped ... and that's what led to the leave.

Beyond the controversy surrounding the doc, Steve continues to defend his daughter's innocence ... arguing prosecutors never proved intent or premeditation, which he claims is necessary to justify a murder conviction ... saying, "There is zero evidence of intent and prior calculation in this case."