Crystal Castles Cancels Tour Dates Amid Sexual Assault Allegations

Last updated on January 22nd, 2019 at 07:04 am

In response to the allegations brought against him on Tuesday, Crystal Castles founding member Ethan Kash has cancelled the remaining dates on his tour, including a performance at First Avenue that was slated for November 8th. Kath, who is denying all of the allegations against him, sent the following statement to Pitchfork via his attorney in response to Glass’ 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.”

The move is a response to a note Alice Glass posted on her website today, in which she details years of alleged abuse from Crystal Castles co-founder Ethan Kath (whose real name is Claudio Palmieri). “I met ‘Ethan Kath’ (Claudio Palmieri) when I was in the 10th grade,” Glass says. “The first time he took advantage of me was when I was around 15.” In addition to physical abuse, Glass writes, “He forced me to have sex with him or, he said, I wouldn’t be allowed to be in the band anymore.”

Alice Glass’ full statement, which includes graphic details, can be found here.

Alice Glass originally left Crystal Castles in 2014. In response to her departure, Glass originally wrote: “For a multitude of reasons both professional and personal I no longer feel that this is possible within CC.” After releasing a song in 2015, Kath insinuated that Glass took no part in the writing of “any of Crystal Castles’ best-known songs.” to which she replied “For the record, I wrote almost all of the lyrics in my former band and the vast majority of the vocal melodies,” adding, “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.”

This story will be updated when more information is available.