Revered singer-songwriter Ryan Adams has been accused of nearly two decades of emotional abuse and sexual misconduct toward female musicians in a startling new report.
The article, published by the New York Times on Wednesday, details the experience of seven women who say the musician promised to help them reach their musical dreams, before things took a dark turn. Adams, 44, tried to take advantage of them and threatened to ruin their careers when he didn’t get his way.
One of those women is ex-wife Mandy Moore who said the former Whiskeytown rocker was emotionally abusive and controlling during their seven-year marriage from 2009 to 2016.
Since she had been a pop star as a teen, Adams would lord his critically acclaimed career over the “This Is Us” star’s head and tried to manipulate her own career, handicapping her during an important moment in her life.
“He would always tell me, ‘You’re not a real musician, because you don’t play an instrument,’” she told the Times.
“I want to make music,” Moore added. “I’m not going to let Ryan stop me.”
Another young musician — who went by “Ava” in the report — started talking to Adams when she was just 14 years old in 2013 and said that their conversations would start on her career and quickly turn sexual.
The paper reports that Adams and “Ava” exchanged thousands of graphic texts during a nine-month period when she was 15 and 16. While the musician expressed apprehension about her age, it didn’t stop him.
In one of them, he allegedly wrote, “If people knew they would say I was like R Kelley [sic] lol.”
Rising country star Phoebe Bridgers said that Adams was more concerned with starting a sexual relationship with her than helping her career when it came to working with her.
And his ex-fiancée Megan Butterworth said the musician tried to emotionally isolate her, control her career and digitally harassed her after they finally broke up.
Adams denied all the claims through his lawyer, specifically saying that Moore’s memories were “completely inconsistent with his view of the relationship.”
The women all said that they finally agreed to come forward after realizing that they were not alone and that Adams had allegedly treated others as bad as he treated them.
In a statement sent to Page Six Wednesday night, Adams said he has “made many mistakes” but also said the Times article was “inaccurate.”
“I am not a perfect man and I have made many mistakes. To anyone I have ever hurt, however unintentionally, I apologize deeply and unreservedly,” the statement read. “But the picture that this article paints is upsettingly inaccurate. Some of its details are misrepresented; some are exaggerated; some are outright false.”
“I would never have inappropriate interactions with someone I though [sic] was underage. Period,” he continued. “As someone who has always tried to spread joy through my music and my life, hearing that some people believe I caused them pain saddens me greatly. I am resolved to work to be the best man I can be. And I wish everyone compassion, understanding and healing.”