Gable Tostee says topless woman 'groped' at festival was 'looking for a fight'
Gable Tostee has said the topless woman allegedly groped at a New Zealand music festival was "looking for a fight".
Madeline Anello-Kitzmiller, from the US, was wearing glitter art on her otherwise topless chest at the Rhythm and Vines festival on New Year's Eve when a man appeared to sneak up from behind and grab her.
The 20-year-old had not received a full apology and Tostee, who was acquitted of charges after his Tinder date plunged to her death from a Gold Coast balcony, weighed in on Facebook about the incident on Tuesday.
"First of all, let me say that everyone, no matter how they are dressed (or not dressed), has the right to not be groped or sexually assaulted, and that all blame for unprovoked assault should lie solely on the assailant and not the victim," Tostee, who now goes by the name Eric Thomas, wrote on Facebook.
"But at the same time (cue the outrage), can anyone honestly tell me that this girl wasn't expecting attention by going to a public festival full of crowds of intoxicated people, wearing nothing but glitter on her t**s?"
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Tostee said he believes "she was out looking for a fight, because what she did to the guy after wasn't simply self-defence, it was also assault".
"I think it would only be fair if both the guy as well as glittert**s were charged with assault," he wrote.
Footage of the festival incident shared on Facebook shows Ms Anello-Kitzmiller and her friend Kiri-Ann Hatfield react, pouring a drink over a man after the grope and landing several blows to his head.
She said she's since learned of the man's identity but is yet to receive an apology from him.
The Portland student said the man responsible made a half-hearted apology at the time, but was laughing alongside his friends after being confronted.
"It wasn't sincere at all…I had no idea who he was…he just hid his face," she told the NZ Herald.
Despite receiving a string of abuse online herself, with comments suggesting she "deserved" what happened, Ms Anello-Kitzmiller remains reluctant to name and shame the man on the Internet.
