Photo: Jupiter Keyes
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Alice Glass says she left Crystal Castles because Ethan Kath, the other half of the duo, abused her sexually, physically and emotionally.

"I’ve been very guarded about the information I’ve given and I haven’t publicly named names—because I’ve been afraid," Glass said Tuesday in an open letter. "I’ve been threatened and harassed and as a result, out of fear, I’ve been silenced."

The singer, who has been focusing on her solo career and is now on tour opening for Marilyn Manson, said she has been encouraged by the "many courageous women who have opened up about their own stories," which prompted Glass to open up about a "decade of abuse, manipulation and psychological control" at the hand of Kath, whose real name is Claudio Palmieri.

According to Glass, who left Crystal Castles in 2015, she met Kath (10 years her senior) when she was in the 10th grade and he first abused her when she was about 15. He began stalking her and they eventually reconnected and began having sex in an abandoned apartment he managed. "It wasn’t always consensual," she alleged.

Glass described a "toxic environment" in which Kath targeted her insecurities and tried to diminish her role in the band, many times feeling he wasn't "getting the recognition he thought he deserved." She went on to say: "He controlled everything I did. I wasn’t allowed to have my own phone or my own credit card, he decided who my friends were, read through my private emails, restricted my access to social media, regulated everything I ate."

While the two parted ways more than four years ago, it was never really clear what caused the split. Crystal Castles returned in 2015 with mysterious vocals from a singer named Edith Frances.

"Leaving Crystal Castles was the single most difficult decision I’ve ever made—that band was everything to me," Glass wrote today in her letter. "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."

Read the full letter here.

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Update: Ethan Kath has subsequently issued a response via his attorney. "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."