Alice Glass Claims Win Over Former Bandmate, Alleged Abuser

Photo by Steve Mitchell / Invision / AP – Alice Glass
Alice Glass of the band Crystal Castles performs during Lollapalooza 2013 at Grant Park on Friday, Aug. 2, 2013 in Chicago.

Former Crystal Castles vocalist Alice Glass announced today that the defamation case – filed after she publicly accused her former bandmate Ethan Kath of sexual, psychological, emotional and physical abuse – has been dismissed.  

Alice Glass published a statement in October alleging her former bandmate Ethan Kath took advantage of her sexually when she was a teenager and was controlling and abusive towards her while they were both in Crystal Castles. Kath responded by suing for defamation, but that case has apparently been dropped.

“I won in court today!! The defamation lawsuit against me was dismissed! Thank you so much for the love and support throughout this ugly process,” Glass tweeted. “This is a victory for survivors of abuse and sexual misconduct in countries where abusers use the court system to further victimize and keep people silent. WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED.”

The initial statement was long and harrowing, alleging Kath preyed on Glass when she was in high school, sexually abused her, exploited her talent musically and dominated and abused her physically, psychologically and emotionally through her time with the band. She said the experience left her suicidal for years and she only recently took courage to make her experiences public in light of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements calling out abusers in entertainment.

Kath responded to the charges with a statement on Crystal Castles’ Facebook page Nov. 3.

“Alice and I had a long, ongoing relationship both personal and professional. When she suddenly left Crystal Castles to handle her mental health and substance abuse issues I fully supported her. I will continue to support her quest to wellness but I can’t support extortion, false claims and accusations put forth after the band attained new success without her. False allegations take away voices from true victims and that’s what saddens me most about all this,” his statement read.

Crystal Castles cancelled its tour after the accusations, according to Stereogum, and claimed $300,000 in losses according to TMZ.

Glass said that multiple women echoed her allegations against Kath in the months following her initial statement, though Kath’s lawyer said the new accusations were false and were contrived to hurt Kath’s legal case according to Stereogum.

There has still no been no comment from Ethan Kath or Crystal Castles’ camp regarding a dismissal of the suit as far as we can tell. C3 Management told Pollstar: “We do not represent the band anymore as of several months ago.” Pollstar reached out to Crystal Castles last known record labels, but hadn’t heard back at press time.

Crystal Castles currently doesn’t have any dates booked.