Rocker Ryan Adams ‘offered girls stardom in exchange for sex’ and ‘bullied and belittled hopefuls’ in bombshell #MeToo allegations
ROCKER Ryan Adams seemed the perfect modern champion of women’s talent – even doing a cover version of an entire Taylor Swift album because he felt her work was “like Shakespeare”.
The indie star also loved giving up-and-coming female musicians their big breaks.
But now it seems that help sometimes may have come with a catch.
Adams, 44, has been accused of offering hopefuls a leg-up with their careers at the same time as pursuing them for sex — then harrassing them if they rebuffed him.
In a bombshell report in The New York Times, one victim said she was just 14 when he contacted her, later going on to sext her and expose himself on a video call.
She claimed the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter had swiftly turned conversations about her music career into sordid sexual ones.
The report also accused Adams of exposing himself to singer Phoebe Bridgers, while his ex-wife, singer and actress Mandy Moore, stated: “Music was a point of control for him.”
Mandy says he effectively killed her singing career.
Another woman has come forward. English model and singer Karen Elson — who toured with Adams in 2017, wrote on Instagram: “I also had a traumatising experience with Ryan Adams.”
While saying she was not quite “brave enough yet” to give details, Karen, 40 — once married to White Stripes frontman Jack White — added: “The trauma that lingers is often a very powerful silencer of women, as is the business that enables these men to thrive without ever facing consequences. #metoo #times up.”
The accusations have shocked the music world, where Adams enjoys friendships with superstars including Bob Dylan and Elton John, who once called him the “fabulous one”.
In Britain his heyday was the early 2000s, when his album Gold raced up the charts, though his 2015 cover of Taylor Swift’s album 1989 also did well — enthusiastically supported by Taylor herself, who allowed Adams to interview her for GQ magazine. His most recent collection, Prisoner, reached No3 in 2017.
HIS SORDID TEXTS TO FAN, 15
"I never see pics of you anymore"
"You were blowing my mind"
"If people knew they would say I was like R Kelley lol"
"I just want you to touch your nipple"
"And tell me that your mom is not gonna kill me if she finds out we even text"
Despite this success, he still gets mistaken for Canadian singer Bryan Adams — something he cannot bear.
When a heckler at a gig shouted out a request for Bryan’s hit Summer Of ’69 in 2002, Adams refused to continue playing until the man was kicked out.
His behaviour got even wilder as he fell into drug and booze addiction — but the soulful musician once dubbed “the human jukebox of heartbreak” has remained an indie favourite and a powerful figure in the industry.
And according to the new allegations, he abused this power.
The most serious allegation came from a young woman named as Ava.
She contacted Adams in 2013 via Twitter, while he was still married to Mandy Moore, and he followed her back. She was 14 and already working professionally as a bass player.
She was thrilled when the star took an interest in her ambitions.
When she was aged 15 and 16, Ava says she exchanged more than 3,000 text messages with Adams, with conversations about music turning into sexting, then naked Skype calls. In one text sent to Ava when Adams was 40 and she was 16, he wrote: “If people knew they would say I was like R Kelly lol.”
Rapper R Kelly has been accused of sex acts with underage girls.
In the same chat, Adams said: “I just want you to touch your nipple.”
If people knew, they'd say I was like R Kelly lol
Ryan Adams
When Ava took a video call she found Adams was undressed. He also had pet names for her body parts.
Ava had told him she was aged 18, but he kept asking whether that was really true. Adams requested identification, which she never gave him.
He allegedly also told her: “I would get in trouble if someone knew we talked like this.”
Ava, now 20, says her experience with Adams “just totally put me off the whole idea of being a musician”. She never played another gig. Andrew B. Brettler, Adams’ lawyer, said that the singer did not recall his messages with Ava. He added: “Mr Adams unequivocally denies that he ever engaged in inappropriate online sexual communications with someone he knew was underage.”
Other women says Adams offered professional opportunities in conjunction with sexual come-ons.
Svengalis who turned bad
IKE TURNER: Bandleader who was 25 years old when he met a 17-year-old Tina Turner and decided to make her a star.
They wed in 1962 – and Ike took her to a brothel on their wedding night. He later admitted abusing her for years.
PHIL SPECTOR: Music producer who made young singer Ronnie Bennett a star with the Ronettes, then wed her in 1968. She spent her wedding night locked in the bathroom, terrified of her new husband.
Spector went on to keep his new wife a virtual prisoner for years and threatened to kill her.
He is currently in jail for murdering actress Lana Clarkson in 2003.
Indie star Phoebe Bridgers, now 24, was an aspiring musician of 20 when he invited her to his studio to sing for him. She was excited, as “he had the power to propel people forward”.
Adams said he wanted to produce her record — but she claims he also started bombarding her with flirty texts. Flattered, she began a romance.
However, she says he started to try to control her life, even urging her to leave social situations so she could have phone sex with him. Phoebe ditched him — and Adams’s offer to release her single and take her on tour were withdrawn.
However, three years after their break-up, Adams got back in touch to offer her the chance to be his opening act on his 2017 tour. She felt it was too good an offer to refuse.
But on the first day of the tour, when he asked Phoebe to bring something to his hotel room, she said: “I came upstairs and he was completely nude.” Adams, through his lawyer, denied this incident.
I just want to touch your nipple
Ryan Adams
Two other female singer-songwriters, whose identities have not been revealed, also claimed Adams offered them career help but withdrew it if they did not want him romantically.
It wasn’t just unknowns who suffered. Mandy Moore met Adams when she was 23 and had a thriving music career. Adams offered to help her craft a new sound but is said to have become psychologically abusive.
She says he would constantly belittle her talent and would replace her vocals on tracks. She released six albums before getting hitched to Adams in 2009, but has not recorded since — which she blames Adams for.
Mandy, who divorced him in 2016, said: “His controlling behaviour essentially did block my ability to make new connections in the industry during a very pivotal and potentially lucrative time.” He denied this through his lawyer.
When Mandy — best known as Rapunzel’s voice in 2010 Disney film Tangled — told a journalist her marriage had been “unhealthy”, Adams responded with cruel tweets. One called Mandy the “spiritual equivalent of a soggy piece of cardboard”.
Meanwhile, ex-fiancee Megan Butterworth, a model, described him as “emotionally abusive”. Adams’ lawyer also denies this.
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Other women linked to Adams have included Alanis Morissette, Winona Ryder, and actress Parker Posey, although there is no suggestion that they had similar experiences.
When the story broke on Wednesday, Adams tweeted: “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 denied “inappropriate interactions with someone I thought was underage.”
Mandy posted on Instagram: “Speaking your truth can be painful and triggering but it’s always worth it. My heart is with all women who have suffered any sort of trauma or abuse. You are seen and heard. #sisterhoodforever.”
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