Rocker Ryan Adams accused by ex-wife Mandy Moore, musician Phoebe Bridgers of emotional abuse and sexual misconduct
Prolific and popular indie rocker Ryan Adams has apologised but disputed allegations of using his power to sexually manipulate and emotionally abuse female musicians.
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Popular American singer songwriter Ryan Adams has been accused of emotional abuse and sexual misconduct by several women including his ex-wife, actor Mandy Moore, in a New York Times report.
Moore, musician Phoebe Bridgers, who is currently touring Australia, and a fan who communicated with Adams online from the age of 14, are among the women who claim Adams would use his power as a successful and respected musician to make sexual advances and emotionally abuse them.
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A young aspiring bassist identified as Ava alleges Adams struck up an online relationship with her in 2013 when she was 14.
But their text conversations about music became sexually explicit. In thousands of texts viewed by the newspaper, he often questioned her about her age and she occasionally lied, with Adams suggesting they keep their communications private.
“If people knew they would say I was like R Kelley (sic) lol,” he wrote.
Moore, who divorced Adams in 2016, said “music was a point of control for him.”
The This Is Us actor, who met and married Adams in a whirlwind romance when she was 23 and he 33, believes he stalled her music career as she attempted to make the transition from young pop star to credible artist.
She told the New York Times that he discouraged her from working with other producers and writers, belittled her talents because she didn’t play an instrument and his controlling behaviour shut the door to opportunities in the music industry.
She hasn’t recorded an album in a decade.
Bridgers was among several women who said Adams would offer recording and touring opportunities which almost immediately became sexual propositions.
She was 20 — and he 40 — when invited her four years ago to his studio to work together.
Texts about plans to record her songs soon became flirty and the pair began a whirlwind romance. He insisted she open for him on his upcoming European tour, a valuable opportunity for Bridgers to introduce herself to a new audience.
The musician said his behaviour became controlling and she was deluged with texts demanding to know her whereabouts, to leave catch-ups or parties to have phone sex and threatening self-harm when she didn’t reply straight away.
When she ended the relationship, he avoided discussing plans for the recordings they had done and withdrew touring opportunities.
The night before the revelations surfaced, Bridgers performed her song Motion Sickness at her Sydney concert at the Oxford Art Factory, its lyrics now widely believed to be about Adams and his behaviour during and after their relationship.
“I hate you for what you did/And I miss you like a little kid/I faked it every time but that’s all right/I can hardly feel anything/I hardly feel anything at all,” she sings in the opening verse.
Bridgers spent the day ahead of the gig doing interviews with some touching on her experiences with powerful men in the industry.
She told GQ that she was aware of male musicians who get their tour managers to approach young female fans at gigs and bring them backstage.
The 24-year-old artist told the magazine powerful men in the music industry expected constant gratitude from their talent.
“I feel like everybody’s always trying to convince you that you should be endlessly grateful for their help — or I just mean like, old white men in music, mostly — they’re like, “hey, I’m really helping you out here’,” she said.
“When actually YOU’RE the reason that they’re cool, they can’t stay cool without you.
“I wish I could go back and tell my younger self that it was going to be fine and that I was the smart one, that I was just as valuable as them.”
Adams’ lawyer responded that the musician denied he had inappropriate communications with someone he knew was underage and that the allegations were “grousing by disgruntled individuals.”
He later deleted a tweet threatening legal action against the newspaper before posting a thread of apology and explanation.
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.
— Ryan Adams (@TheRyanAdams) February 13, 2019
“I am not a perfect man and I have made many mistakes. To anyone I have ever hurt, however unintentionally, I apologise deeply and unreservedly,” he wrote.
“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 thought was underage. Period.
“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.”
Originally published as Rocker Ryan Adams accused by ex-wife Mandy Moore, musician Phoebe Bridgers of emotional abuse and sexual misconduct
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