Yesterday, Alice Glass revealed the real reason she left Crystal Castles in 2014: She said she endured “almost a decade of abuse, manipulation and psychological control” from bandmate Ethan Kath, which made her “suicidal for years.” She concluded her post detailing her allegations:
“Leaving Crystal Castles was the single most difficult decision I’ve ever made — that band was everything to me. My music, my performances and my fans were all I had in the world. 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.”
Now, Kath has responded to the statement, telling Pitchfork there’s no truth to what Glass wrote:
“I am outraged and hurt by the recent statements made by Alice about me and our prior relationship. 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.”
The duo didn’t part ways on the best of terms, even publicly. When Kath released the first post-Glass Crystal Castles song, he wrote, “I think it can be empowering for her to be in charge of her own project. It should be rewarding for her considering she didn’t appear on Crystal Castles’ best-known songs. […] People often gave her credit for my lyrics and that was fine, I didn’t care.” Soon after, Glass took to Twitter to respond:
“For the record, I wrote almost all of the lyrics in my former band and the vast majority of the vocal melodies. I was a founding member of Crystal Castles and shaped the sound and aesthetic from the very beginning. Manipulative statements about my contributions to the band only reinforce the decision I made to move on to other things.”
Read Glass’ original post detailing the alleged assault from Kath here.
