This Man Helped out a Drunk Female Friend and Now It’s Causing a Bitter Online Debate

Who knew a single tweet about taxes could fire up such heated debate?

It all happened when two Americans girls in Sydney went out to party. BuzzFeed News reports that 23-year-old Texas student Michelle Gallahan is currently spending a semester studying abroad in Sydney, Australia. At some point, Gallahan met her now-roommate Jessica Lipsey, who is also an American student studying abroad.

Photo Credit: Buzzfeed

Throw a guy in the mix, and we have ourselves a Twitter debate.

Here’s BuzzFeed’s account of what went down. Over the weekend, Gallahan went out with several friends, including a new pal and fellow American-studying-abroad Kevin Franco. The two ran into each other at a party as they were leaving and got to talking. Because she lived far away, Franco told Gallahan she was welcome to come over to his place so she could sober up.

“I would have felt bad if she walked home and fell or got hurt along the way,” Franco said. The two continued talking until about 5 am, when Gallahan fell asleep in Franco’s bed.
That’s when Franco decided to “do something productive,” so he left Gallahan to sleep in his bed while he went off to do his taxes. He told BuzzFeed News:

Gallahan napped for a couple of hours as Franco filed away. She said that at no point had he acted inappropriately towards her in anyway, and that she thanked him “profusely” when she realized what he had done.

When Gallahan told her new roommate Lipsey about her night, Lipsey thought it was “so funny” she tweeted this about it:

Photo Credit: Twitter, jay_lips

Lipsey’s tweet has since gone viral, garnering almost 24,000 retweets and over 157,000 likes. She insists she had no idea her message would gain so much attention. In the days following the tweet, the 21-year-old received responses ranging the entire spectrum of emotion. Many were angry at her assertion that most men are trash and the insinuation Franco could’ve taken advantage of Gallahan in any way.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Some were resentful, taking Lipsey’s tweet as an attack on all men:

Photo Credit: Twitter

While others straight up said the story was fabricated:

Photo Credit: Twitter

Lipsey set the record straight: “I do not actually think all men are trash. It was completely sexist for me to say that of course.” She explained her message:

Photo Credit: Twitter

She clarified how she wasn’t implying Franco could’ve or would’ve done anything inappropriate, she was merely priding him on removing himself from the situation, thus lessening his potential to be any sort of viable threat.