You ex's-friend/family reaction...
...They're reacting in the way that your ex has spun his story.
They're "taking his side" because that's what friends and family do when they're enabling his addiction. They can be as addicted to him as he is to his drugs.
We can all choose something different.
"It has been said that by doing the right thing to bring sanity into my life, I end up doing the right things for the addicts in my life." (Naranon SESH, April 29)