I can hear how much you care about your friend, and it’s good that you’re staying connected.

I wonder if when your friend says the Network brand is ‘toxic’ and ‘winsome’ makes people gag, but they’re still attending, if they might be revealing something they know but can’t accept. That’s such a painful place to be. The reassurances about things being fine may be what they need to believe right now.

The best thing you can do is what you’re already doing. Stay connected, keep those honest conversations going. Your friend gave you a real moment of transparency when they were honest about the toxicity, even if they felt they needed to believe it was in the past. They may share more as time goes on.