Crystal Castles was originally scheduled to play the Warfield tomorrow, October 26, but that performance has been cancelled after former band member Alice Glass accused Ethan Kath of rape and assault in a personal blog post published earlier this week. SFGate reports that other performances in Orange County seem to also have been cancelled, and references to the shows have been pulled from Goldenvoice's website.
In her post, Glass shared details of how she met Kath (also known as Claudio Palmieri), alleging that she was emotionally manipulated, that she was physically and sexually abused, and more, all throughout her tenure with the band. The band itself has existed since 2006, but Glass left the band in 2014, citing "a multitude of reasons both professional and personal." She was then replaced with another vocalist, Edith Frances, and the band continued touring without her.
Glass referenced her departure from the band in her post, writing, "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." After her departure, Glass spoke out against Kath on at least one occasion, as she commented on an upcoming performance of theirs at a feminism-centric SXSW party hosted by microblogging site Tumblr. Then, she told The Verge, "As someone who knew Ethan Kath on a personal and professional level, it is my opinion that he is not an appropriate artist to be performing at a feminism-centric event." Crystal Castles was later pulled from the lineup.
Kath responded to Glass's recent accusations in a statement sent to Pitchfork though his attorney. He said: "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 timing of Glass's post is noteworthy in that it comes at a time when many women, celebrities and otherwise, are sharing their stories of the sexual harassment and abuse they suffered in professional and personal settings. Elsewhere, many women broke their silence about movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, recounting numerous alleged incidents of being harassed and berated by him. This set off a chain of events that would see Weinstein ousted from his own company amidst a multitude of demonstrations, including a prominent hashtag campaign on Twitter full of women speaking up and out against sexual harassment.
None of this is lost on Glass, who wrote in her post that she felt empowered by the demonstrations. "The momentum that’s been created recently by the many courageous women who have opened up about their own stories has inspired me to finally be more direct, at whatever cost," she wrote. "This is for my own recovery, for the other women who have been, are currently, or may be in a similar situation with the man who abused me for years, and for those in abusive relationships who are looking to stand up and speak out."
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