Ryan Adams and Mandy Moore
NEW YORK—A New York Times report says seven women have claimed singer-songwriter Ryan Adams offered to help them with their music careers, then turned things sexual, and he sometimes became emotional and verbally abusive.
In the story published on Wednesday, a 20-year-old female musician said Adams, 44, had inappropriate conversations with her while she was 15. Identified by her middle name Ava, she said that Adams exposed himself during a video call.
Adams’ ex-wife, actress and singer Mandy Moore, said Adams was psychologically abusive toward her throughout their marriage. Their divorce became official in 2016.
The accounts have been corroborated by family members or friends who were present at the time. Adams’ lawyer denied the claims to the Times.
After the article was published, Adams tweeted that “I’m not a perfect man, and I have made many mistakes. To anyone I have ever hurt, however unintentionally, I apologize deeply and unreservedly. But the picture that this article paints is upsettingly inaccurate. Some of its details are misrepresented; some are exaggerated; some are outright false.”
Adams released his debut album in 2000 and has earned seven Grammy nominations. He famously covered Taylor Swift’s Grammy-winning “1989” album in 2015 a year after its release, and worked as a producer for acts like Willie Nelson and Jenny Lewis.
Ava said Adams constantly questioned her about her age throughout the nine months they exchanged text messages. The report said she never showed him any identification, and he had pet names for her body parts.
“If people knew, they would say I was like R. Kelley lol,” he wrote to her via text in November 2014, when he was 40 and she was 16. R. Kelly has also been accused of sexual misconduct.
Singers Phoebe Bridgers and Courtney Jaye said Adams behaved inappropriately during their relationships.
Moore, 34, one of the stars of NBC’s award-winning series “This Is Us,” burst on the scene as a teen singer and had musical success in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
She claimed Adams stalled her music career and told her, “‘You’re not a real musician, because you don’t play an instrument.’ His controlling behavior essentially did block my ability to make new connections in the industry,” she added.—AP