Alice Glass details alleged abuse that forced her to leave Crystal Castles
"He told me that my feminism made me a target for rapists and only he could protect me"
Alice Glass, the former lead singer of Canadian electronic-duo Crystal Castles, has published a grueling account of the alleged physical, psychological and sexual abuse she endured from her former bandmate Ethan Kath.
Her mysterious departure from the band in 2014 perplexed many at the time, and today she has come forward to explain that “the momentum that’s been created recently by the many courageous women who have opened up about their own stories” has inspired her to do the same, revealing the real reasons she claims forced her to depart with the band.
Starting from the first time she met Kath in high school, who she refers to by his given name Claudio Palmieri, she details the “toxic environment” that he kept Glass in. “He figured out my insecurities and exploited them," said Glass. "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.”
After starting Crystal Castles, fame followed shortly after. In her statement, Glass claimed that Palmieri “didn’t feel he was getting the recognition he thought he deserved” and would bar her from doing photoshoots and interviews while consistently “diminishing her role” in their musical creations during recording sessions.
On top of this, Glass stated that Palmieri would not let her have a credit card, cell phone or any access to social media while also influencing her eating habits, controlling her social life and being physically abusive to her.
“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. I tried to leave, and he swore that it would never happen again, that he would never physically abuse me again. More severe psychological and emotional abuse took its place.”
She ends by saying leaving Crystle Castles was the “single most difficult decision I’ve ever made.” Despite this, she ends by concluding 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”.
Read her full statement here.