Several women have accused singer-songwriter Ryan Adams of sexual and emotional abuse, according to a recent report. Most of the women say Adams was volatile and would rescind career offers if they rejected his advances.
The article by The New York Times investigated the case of a woman who was a teenager at the time she had racy online interactions with Adams, though he was in his 30s then.
“I would get in trouble if someone knew we talked like this,” Adams wrote to a woman identified as Ava, according to the Times.
During that time, Ava was 14 years old and a talented bass player. She had started performing with established musicians at just 12 years old. Her father died when she was 13.
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
She decided to contact Adams over Twitter. Adams is known for communicating with fans over social media and even for scouting potential artists to work with.
“I was really alone,” Ava told the Times, “and he was really friendly and cool.”
Their interactions included thousands of text messages, along with an inappropriate video call over Skype, where Adams was naked, according to the article.
The experience turned Ava, now 20, off from music. After her relationship with Adams ended, she stopped performing.
According to Adams’s lawyer, Adams denies the accusations. He says that the women going after him are doing it because of their career failures or personal problems, and that this “grousing by disgruntled individuals” sought to unload it all on Adams.
More than one aspiring recording artist say they were turned off from the music industry due to their experience with Adams.
“Something changed in me that year. It made me just not want to make music,” said Courtney Jaye, who also met Adams on Twitter.
Adams enthusiastically messaged Jaye in 2013, offering her an opportunity to work together and even produce a project for her. She was 35 years old at the time and not signed to a recording contract. Adams then proceeded with sexual advances during songwriting sessions.
“I just shut myself off,” Jaye told the NY Times, describing how she dealt with the situation.
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.
— Ryan Adams (@TheRyanAdams) February 13, 2019
Other women told the Times Adams was controlling of their career, and said he used their receptiveness to his advances to gauge whether he would help them professionally.
Adams ex-wife, singer and actress Mandy Moore, told the Times that Adams was controlling during their six-year marriage, and that he basically stifled her music career.
Moore said Adams promised to build up her career if she worked exclusively with him, but he didn’t do much for her. He was also psychologically abusive.
“He would always tell me, ‘You’re not a real musician, because you don’t play an instrument,’” Moore told the Times.
Adams’s lawyer said Adams thinks differently of their relationship, and that he was supportive of her career.
Moore only released one album just after their 2009 marriage and hasn’t released an album since.
“His controlling behavior essentially did block my ability to make new connections in the industry during a very pivotal and potentially lucrative time — my entire mid-to-late 20s,” Moore said.
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Adams responded to the Times article on Twitter, apologizing while also disagreeing.
“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,” Adams wrote in his first response.
Adams then responded again, particularly going after the Ava situation, with a less apologetic tone.
“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.”
But his latest tweet became apologetic again.
“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.”
