In late October, Alice Glass wrote a lengthy post alleging that her former Crystal Castles bandmate Ethan Kath had been sexually and emotionally abusive to her for over a decade. Now, according to a report by TMZ, Kath is suing Glass for defamation in response to those claims.

Glass's original post, published on her website, was detailed and disturbing. "The first time he took advantage of me was when I was around 15," she wrote. "He was 10 years older than me. I came to in the back of his car extremely intoxicated (from drinks he had given me that night). We didn't talk for months after that." Glass went on to write that, when the two started gaining attention as Crystal Castles, Kath "began abusively and systematically targeting my insecurities and controlling my behavior: my eating habits, who I could talk to, where I could go, what I could say in public, what I was allowed to wear."

The abuse, she wrote, soon became physical:

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.

Sexual coercion remained, however, according to Glass's statement: "He told me that my feminism made me a target for rapists and only he could protect me. He forced me to have sex with him or, he said, I wouldn't be allowed to be in the band anymore."

Glass's claims appeared to be foreshadowed by a 2008 article by Niall O'Keeffe in the now-defunct British arts paper, The Stool Pigeon. O'Keeffe wrote about the control that Kath seemed to wield over Glass; Kath insisted on doing the interview alone and repeatedly snapped at Glass in the photoshoot.

In a statement released the day after Glass's post, Kath wrote that he was "outraged and hurt" by the statement. "Her story is pure fiction and I am consulting my lawyers as to my legal options," he wrote. "Fortunately, there are many witnesses who can and will confirm that I was never abusive to Alice."

In a statement to TMZ last night, Kath said that Glass left Crystal Castles due to mental health and drug issues. "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," the statement read. He told TMZ that Crystal Castles, now fronted by Edith Frances, was forced to cancel its forthcoming tour, costing the band $300,000.