Actually, that is pretty much what they said. From the article:
“The decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly. In this instance, after the customer started a verbal altercation with our crewmember, our team determined the situation risked escalation during flight. The team asked the customers to deplane and their fare was refunded.”
I don't know which version is correct, but the Jaskalas version certainly has basis for suggestion.
We'll see, but I if he was sexually harassing/assaulting her, I'd like to believe they would've taken it more seriously (sexual assault - which by the way is what #metoo is about, would, I hope, have led to him being arrested, not just asked to leave the plane), and I don't see them refunding him over it if he did something that full on warranted him being removed. They say he started it but it could be that they know she said or did something that could be construed as antagonizing (just that she didn't say or do it directly to him), and then he reacted, and they felt it would cause issues with her serving his party.
Its funny all the people going "don't jump to conclusions" who are then doing exactly that in the opposite direction. Considering how many other situations where the same people were "the guy must've been doing something wrong!" like when the security beat the shit out of the one guy after he refused to accept money and tickets to take another flight, among other situations. It is entirely possible that the attendant said she didn't feel safe around people with so many tattoos, and he mouthed off.