My dear friends, this is what we're doing:

Engaging
to entangle or entrap as if in a snare or bog:
to hold the attention of:
to induce to participate

When this is what we need to be doing:

Disengage
to release from something that engages or involves:
to release or detach oneself:
to withdraw

We've all heard the saying, 'I won't dignify that with an answer', well don't honor what someone is saying about your friends by engaging them to continue.

I do want to defend my friends character, but do I really need to do that with someone whose opinion I could not possibly care less about?

Lupus won't go away if we ignore it....
Would drama? I say lets give it a try.