UPDATED 10/24/17 7:05 p.m. ET: Ethan Kath's attorney has provided Pitchfork with a statement in response to the allegations. "I am outraged and hurt by the recent statements made by Alice about me and our prior relationship," the statement reads. "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."
See original story below.
Alice Glass, who fronted the synth pop duo Crystal Castles for eight years, has released a detailed statement alleging multiple instances of rape and psychological abuse by former collaborator Ethan Kath. "This is why I had to leave Crystal Castles," Glass said when sharing the statement on social media Tuesday. "Here is my story."
Kath, whose real name is Claudio Palmieri, allegedly "took advantage of" Glass for the first time when she was 15 years old. "He was 10 years older than me," Glass wrote. "I came to in the back of his car extremely intoxicated (from drinks he had given me that night). We didn't talk for months after that. He went to great lengths to find me again, stalking me and driving past my high school looking for me."
Eventually, Glass said, she and Kath reconnected. Glass said she was "young and naive" at the time and had heard multiple accounts of assault "by much older men" in the local punk scene from her friends. "It was a situation that had been normalized," she said. "Claudio was very manipulative towards me. He figured out my insecurities and exploited them: he used the things he learned about me against me. 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. It wasn't always consensual and he remained sober whenever we were together."
During the recording of the duo's debut project, Kath allegedly pressured Glass into allowing the recording engineer to sexually harass her. He also allegedly lied about the vocals on the track "Alice Practice," telling reporters they were a "mic test" in order to diminish Glass' role. As the band grew in popularity worldwide, Glass said, Kath physically abused her and controlled every aspect of her life. "He forced me to have sex with him or, he said, I wouldn't be allowed to be in the band anymore," Glass wrote.
Read Glass' full statement here.
Glass first announced her departure from Crystal Castles in 2014, with Edith Frances later announced as the duo's new vocalist.
Glass released her critically acclaimed self-titled debut solo EP in August, featuring the single "Without Love."
Glass was on tour with Marilyn Manson last month until a stage accident forced him to postpone the bulk of his Heaven Upside Down dates. Last week, Glass announced that she would not be joining Manson on the rescheduled 2018 dates.
