Ian’s best friend from A Toxic Love Story accuses makers for misrepresenting her

Ian Diaz’s closest friend, Leslie Carlson, reportedly feels deeply upset about the way A Toxic Love Story concluded. She said that the people behind the Netflix documentary tricked viewers by shaping her image unfairly. She finds it insulting and dishonest because instead of showing her true perspective, they have misinterpreted her as someone who was fooled in love.

Carlson became a target for online critics who accuse her of ignoring Ian's crimes because of her deep feelings for him, even though he is already in prison for a cyberstalking scheme that involved his former wife Angela Connell Diaz and his ex-girlfriend Michelle Hadley. She is now criticizing the filmmakers for showing her in that way and says that she regrets ever placing her trust in them.

The documentary's real-life character had known Ian for 23 years and regarded him as one of her closest friends and trusted companions. On August 1 this year, Yahoo revealed several moments with Ian where he immediately came to her aid, such as driving her to the hospital twice, joining her for follow-up medical visits, and travelling 45 minutes to pick her up after a car accident.

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Leslie Carlson blames the filmmakers of A Toxic Love Story for misrepresenting her

A moment from the documentary (Image via YouTube/@Netflix)

According to TMZ, Leslie said that she expected the filmmakers of A Toxic Love Story to properly research everything they heard from the people who were interviewed for the documentary. She added,

"They were given so much information -- and then decided to abort the truth and ignore all the actual evidence."

She further reveals that the documentary team treated her unfairly by using only a small part of a two-day interview and then letting a police officer from Ian's case dismiss her limited input as if it came from someone hopelessly in love.

Leslie also argues that the claim Ian refused to take part in the documentary is misleading. According to her, he was willing to cooperate, but the filmmakers wanted to conduct the interview via multiple phone calls. Ian chose not to use up his limited prison phone time because he needed it for his wife and child, and so the plan was dropped.

A Toxic Love Story: Leslie defends Ian against Critics

Leslie further added that she is unfazed by the online critics and continues to stand firmly by Ian. She explained that if the documentary had presented a thorough account of the actual evidence used in his conviction, more people would be questioning the inconsistencies and the clear agenda to put him behind bars.

As previously reported, Leslie was among those who wrote heartfelt letters to the judge. In those letters, she asked for leniency when Ian was sentenced to 10 years in prison.