Ethan Kath Denies Abusing Crystal Castles Bandmate Alice Glass, Calls Allegations ‘Pure Fiction’

Ethan Kath has broken his silence after his former Crystal Castles bandmate Alice Glass claimed that she was physically, emotionally and sexually abused by Kath for nearly a decade. Kath, 34, whose given name is Claudio Paolo Palmieri, has denied allegations and called them “pure fiction.”

“I am outraged and hurt by the recent statements made by Alice about me and our prior relationship,” Kath said through his attorney in a statement to Pitchfork. “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.”

Glass, a founding member of Crystal Castles who left the band in 2014, wrote in a lengthy post on her website Tuesday that she’d been abused by Kath since she was 15 years old. Now 29, she said the abuse included throwing her onto concrete, berating her, locking her in rooms and forcing her through manipulation to perform nonconsensual sex.

“Claudio was very manipulative towards me,” Glass said. “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.”

She also said that Kath “controlled everything I did” and would not permit her to have her own credit card or phone.

“I was miserable and my lyrics indirectly spoke to the pain and oppression that I was enduring. But as is sometimes the case in abusive relationships, his cruelty was often followed by kindness. He was very good at keeping his terrible treatment of me private,” she said. “He was charming sometimes, he was hyper protective and most of all I loved the band we had together. But he often told me how replaceable I was.”

She continued: “He’d even tell me that he was actively looking for someone to replace me. He kept me insecure and on edge, and then would tell me that he was the only one it the world that believed in me. He told me it was us against everyone, because everyone else thought I was a loser, a joke, a talentless dancing clown. I believed him. I was suicidal for years.”

The abuse, she claimed, was ultimately the reason she left Crystal Castles three years ago. Glass called it “the single most difficult decision I’ve ever made.”

“My music, my performances and my fans were all I had in the world,” she said. “I gave that up and started over not because I wanted to but because I had to. As difficult as it was, I knew that leaving was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It has taken me years to recover from enduring almost a decade of abuse, manipulation and psychological control. I am still recovering.”