Musician Alice Glass, former singer of the Canadian electronic duo Crystal Castles, released a statement detailing years of alleged abuse she faced from her former bandmate, Ethan Kath. Her note was posted to her personal website.
Glass and Kath formed the band around 2006. "I met 'Ethan Kath' (Claudio Palmieri) when I was in the 10th grade. The first time he took advantage of me was when I was around 15. He was 10 years older than me," Glass said in her statement. "Over a period of many months, he gave me drugs and alcohol and had sex with me in an abandoned room at an apartment he managed." Glass alleges that the sex "wasn’t always consensual."
Glass said that the abuse extended into their music career; she recounted a story of how Kath let other colleagues harass her. She said he would also diminish her contributions to the group when it came to credit for their work.
"While recording our first EP, the recording engineer sexually harassed me while we were in the studio. Claudio laughed at me and pressured me to go along with it," she said. "He called our first single 'Alice Practice' and said my vocals were a mic test. He concocted that story and told press it was an 'accidental' recording, intentionally diminishing my role in its creation."
As Crystal Castles became more successful, Glass claims, Kath became more controlling and physically abusive.
"As we started to gain attention, he began abusively and systematically targeting my insecurities and controlling my behavior: my eating habits, who I could talk to, where I could go, what I could say in public, what I was allowed to wear," Glass said. "He held me over a staircase and threatened to throw me down it. He picked me up over his shoulders and threw me onto concrete. He took pictures of my bruises and posted them online."
At his worst, Glass alleges, Kath would use scare tactics to keep her from leaving him and the band. "He broke glass shower doors to frighten me, he locked me into rooms. He told me that my feminism made me a target for rapists and only he could protect me. He forced me to have sex with him or, he said, I wouldn’t be allowed to be in the band anymore."
Glass concluded her statement by explaining how leaving Crystal Castles was the "single most difficult decision" she's ever had to make, but it was still "one of the best decisions" she'd made. You can read the full statement here.
Weeks after Glass went public with her allegations, Toronto police confirmed to the Daily Beast that Kath is being investigated for allegations from multiple people, including one who alleges he initiated a sexual relationship with her when she was 16.
BuzzFeed News has reached out to representatives for Kath and Glass for further comment. However, via his attorney, Kath sent Pitchfork a response statement.
“I am outraged and hurt by the recent statements made by Alice about me and our prior relationship,” he said. “Her story is pure fiction and I am consulting my lawyers as to my legal options. Fortunately, there are many witnesses who can and will confirm that I was never abusive to Alice.”
Kath also responded by suing Glass for defamation. She recently posted a photo of her court summons on Twitter.
just got served after my show in chicago by someone pretending to be a fan. lol see you in court asshole.