Over the years we've seen a lot of Holly Van Voast and her topless mustachioed alter ego Harvey Van Toast. She's bared her boobs on the subway, to multiple celebrities and even in front of Hooters (after which she was taken away for a mental evaluation). But yesterday she was vindicated in court when she agreed to stay out of trouble in exchange for having criminal trespass charges from a topless stunt in St. Patrick's cathedral thrown out. But her court appearance might well have backfired if some reporters had had their way.

Van Voast—whose adventures as a boob-baring provocateur were recently made into a documentary—was in court to deal with a number of incidents, most notably the time she walked down the center aisle of St. Patrick's with her boobs out. For that, along with a pot possession offense, she received a judgement in which the charges will be dismissed entirely if she stays out of trouble for six months (a previous charge of trespassing had already been tossed). Van Voast did not, however, repeat a previous court appearance in which she bared all for a judge—and that, she says, bothered some. According to Van Voast at least one New York Post reporter was actively rooting for her to make the story "news."

As Van Voast tells us:

The really strange thing was that at least three people, the reporter Laura Italiano from The New York Post, a photographer, and another actual court figure who I don't want to name (but who should know better) seemed to want me to take my top off in court (actually something that could have been a punishable offense, or at least dragged this case out longer than the year it already has dragged out). Adults acting like bored children. Laura Italiano was sitting in front of Ron Kuby and I, and was saying stuff about the publicity and saying it wasn't a story unless I took my top off. That was wrong I think, and of course she left THAT out of her story in The Post yesterday and today.

[Italiano] acted like I should have taken my top off in court and had no idea at all that I had already done that and was covered in The New York Times for doing so in September 2011. (I told her about that after the case was outside and she and the other reporters and Ron were outside the courtroom). Shabby shabby reporting I am afraid, and biased. From a woman too. I am not the shameful party here...She seems to imagine that indeed I am an exhibitionist, when in fact, that is what she and a couple of others WANTED to see. I disappointed them.


She didn't disappoint them for too long though. When asked to remove her top outside court she obliged. Though she didn't look particularly happy about it.

Italiano has not yet responded to a request for comment, but we'll update if she gets back to us.