A body language expert has offered an analysis of Steve Shirilla’s appearance in The Crash, after some viewers branded it “tone deaf”.
Steve Shirilla drew backlash online after appearing in the newly released Netflix documentary about his daughter, Mackenzie Shirilla, who was found guilty on murder-related charges. Critics focused less on what he said, and more on what he wore.
In July 2022, Shirilla — who was 17 at the time — drove a vehicle at around 100mph into a wall in Strongsville, Ohio.
The collision killed two passengers: her boyfriend Dominic Russo and friend Davion Flanagan.
Shirilla has repeatedly claimed she blacked out and did not intend to harm anyone. However, she was convicted of 12 felony offences, including murder, felonious assault and aggravated vehicular homicide.
As Steve spoke publicly about the case in the documentary, viewers fixated on his clothing — a shirt featuring the word “Boom”.
On Reddit, one user described his outfit choice as “questionable”, while another claimed it was “beyond poor taste” and “insensitive”.
A YouTuber and body-language commentator known as The Behavioral Arts weighed in, saying he can sometimes “cold read” a person based on what they choose to wear.
“The moment I saw Steve on the screen, there was something that jumped out at me that I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” the expert explained.
“And it’s the fact that he’s literally wearing a T-shirt that has a cartoon ‘boom’ on it.”
The analysis continued: “I’m looking at this going ‘what happened here?’ This guy woke up, knowing that that day he’s going to film a documentary about the car crash that his daughter caused, that claimed two lives, and he went over to his T-shirt drawer and he went ‘hmm […] that one, that’s the perfect one to wear for this documentary.'”
Discussing what the choice could suggest, The Behavioral Arts added: “Totally subjectively, either he knew what he was doing, or if we give him the benefit of the doubt, this is a completely tone-deaf, clueless decision to wear this T-shirt and not realize the implication that it has in this documentary.”
After Steve’s appearance in the documentary, he was placed on administrative leave from his role as an art and digital media teacher at Mary Queen of Peace School in Cleveland.
Mary Queen of Peace School said in a statement: “Administrators at Mary Queen of Peace School in Cleveland are investigating allegations made on social media that one of its teachers has demonstrated poor judgement. Upon learning of the allegation, the school acted immediately and placed the teacher on administrative leave. The investigation is ongoing.
“The health and wellbeing of its students are among the highest priorities for Mary Queen of Peace School, and its leadership team takes all allegations of poor judgment very seriously.”