Joe Coscarelli and Melena Ryzik

Equal parts punk-rock folk hero and romantic troubadour, Adams, 44, has 16 albums and seven Grammy nominations to his name. He has overseen music by Willie Nelson, written a Tim McGraw hit and recorded with John Mayer.

He has also taken a special interest in the trajectory of female artists, especially younger ones, championing them onstage, across social media and in the studio, where his stamp of approval can jump-start careers.

Some now say that Adams’ rock-star patronage masked a darker reality. In interviews, seven women and more than a dozen associates described a pattern of manipulative behavior in which Adams dangled career opportunities while simultaneously pursuing female artists for sex. In some cases, they said, he would turn domineering and vengeful, jerking away his offers of support when spurned, and subjecting women to emotional and verbal abuse, and harassment in texts and on social media. The accounts have been corroborated by family members or friends who were present at the time, as well as by correspondence from Adams reviewed by The New York Times.

From a teenager living in a small town to his ex-wife, the singer and actress Mandy Moore, these artists said Adams exploited and then stifled their ambitions. “Music was a point of control for him,” Moore said.

When Adams began corresponding online with a fan, Ava, in 2013, she was a 14-year-old bass player already forging a career.

But their correspondence about music turned into graphic texting. Eventually, Ava said, they conducted video calls on Skype, where Adams exposed himself during phone sex.

The Times has reviewed extensive communication between the two, including 3,217 text messages they exchanged over a nine-month period when Ava was 15 and 16. (The Times is identifying Ava, now 20, by her middle name because she was a minor during their online relationship. They never met in person.)

In the texts, Adams questioned Ava repeatedly about her age, and sometimes she said she was older than she was. Though he did not seem convinced, their sexual conversations continued. “i would get in trouble if someone knew we talked like this,” Adams wrote to her in November 2014.

Andrew B. Brettler, Adams’ lawyer, said that the singer did not recall these exchanges. “Mr. Adams unequivocally denies that he ever engaged in inappropriate online sexual communications with someone he knew was underage,” Brettler said.

Through Brettler, Adams said that he did not have the power to make or break careers and categorically denied the “extremely serious and outlandish accusations” in The Times’ reporting. Adams recalled the interactions with the women differently, his lawyer said, referring to some of the allegations as “grousing by disgruntled individuals” who blamed Adams for personal or professional disappointments and were now out to harm him.

After this article was published online, Adams posted a series of tweets in which he apologized “to anyone I have ever hurt, however unintentionally.” But he also continued to dispute the accuracy of the reporting.

‘I Never See Pics of You Anymore’

With the album “Heartbreaker” and beloved songs like “New York, New York,” Adams became a solo star in the early 2000s, even as he struggled with well-publicized addiction and mental health issues. He later gained mainstream attention with a cover of Taylor Swift’s “1989” album, released through his own Pax-Am label.

Adams was an early adopter in communicating directly with listeners, responding to fans and critics on Myspace and then Twitter and Instagram. He also used social media to scout and meet artists. It was on Twitter that he found Ava, who excitedly messaged him to say hello after she followed him and he followed her back.

“I was really alone,” Ava said in an interview, “and he was really friendly and cool.”

She had been a gifted bassist since the age of 9. By 12, she was road-tripping with her family to Manhattan for gigs with established musicians. At home, however, Ava was isolated, home-schooled because of bullying. At 13, her father died.

Adams represented the creative future she dreamed of. The star floated big ideas about her career prospects in their earliest messages, eventually suggesting that she and another teenager start a band that he could produce.

Their conversations were on and off, but a constant theme was Adams fretting about Ava’s age — and asking to keep their exchanges secret — while also indulging in sexual scenarios.

“I never see pics of you anymore,” Adams wrote in November 2014, when he had just turned 40 and Ava was newly 16. “You were blowing my mind.” He had pet names for her body parts.

Days later, Adams expressed anxiety: “If people knew they would say I was like R Kelley lol,” he wrote.

Yet within 10 minutes, the conversation again turned explicit. “I just want you to touch your nipple,” he texted, before again asking about her age. “And tell me that your mom is not gonna kill me if she finds out we even text.”

In response to Adams’ repeated pleas that she tell him she was 18 — “You have to convince me,” he wrote — Ava at times said she was. Sometimes he asked to see identification — “in the hottest way that has ever been done Lol.” She never showed him any ID.

Adams, through his lawyer, said that while he “has communications online with various fans and aspiring musicians,” he “does not recall having online communications with anyone related to anything outside of music.” The lawyer added that “if, in fact, this woman was underage, Mr. Adams was unaware.” He pointed to her performances in clubs and provided photos of Ava from that time, saying she looked “approximately 20.”

Laws regarding explicit digital communication with a minor vary from state to state and are separate from age of consent laws, which encompass physical contact. In Ohio, where Ava lived, it is a felony to solicit, exchange or possess any material that shows a person under 18 engaging in sexual activity. New York, where Adams was during some of these exchanges, has similar laws regarding children younger than 17, and federal statutes use 18 as the age of adulthood.

Several legal experts said that prosecuting such cases could involve disputes over jurisdiction and whether the adult reasonably believed the minor was of legal age, taking into account context from their conversations.

Ava said that as her communication with Adams went on, she grew uneasy about their unequal dynamic. Once, she said, the two agreed to video chat, but when they connected on Skype, Adams was already naked. “It was just sexual power,” Ava said.

As their relationship waned, Adams returned to the possibility of recording together. But for Ava, the idea that she would be objectified or have to sleep with people to get ahead “just totally put me off to the whole idea” of being a musician, she said. She never played another gig.

‘Hurricane Ryan’

The music world, in which a culture of late nights and boundary-pushing behavior has been normalized, hasn’t been as roiled by the #MeToo movement as other sectors of media and entertainment. But many in the business say that harassment and inequitable treatment of women is pervasive and that the “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” ethos has shielded men from being held to account.

In an industry where musicians are often the most trusted gatekeepers, Adams was more than just a singer. His Pax-Am label was connected to Capitol Music Group, a major conglomerate, and an opening slot on one of his sold-out tours could introduce an emerging artist to fans and business partners. For more than a decade, until last year, Adams was managed by John Silva, who has worked with Nirvana, Beck and St. Vincent. (Silva and Capitol, which is scheduled to release three albums by Adams this year, declined requests for comment.)

Other women in music said they, too, were subjected to Adams’ intense flattery and a bait and switch in which professional opportunities would be commingled with sexual come-ons.

The musician Phoebe Bridgers was 20 when Adams invited her to the Pax-Am studio one night in fall 2014. “There was a mythology around him,” she said. “It seemed like he had the power to propel people forward.”

Adams had her perform a song and said he was blown away, comparing her to Bob Dylan, Bridgers recalled. Adams gave her a pricey vintage guitar, she said, and told her to return to record with him the next day.

Beguiled by Adams’ energy and enthusiasm, Bridgers brought her best songs. Adams proposed putting them out as a 7-inch vinyl single on his label, setting her on a professional path.

But as they discussed the record, Adams started sending Bridgers flirty texts, she said, and a whirlwind romance commenced. Bridgers said the singer began discussing marriage less than a week into their relationship, and insisted that she open for him on his European tour in a few weeks — “a golden pillar of success,” she recalled. Adams told Bridgers’ mother that it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to have someone like him looking out for her.

Yet in the weeks that followed, Adams’ attention turned obsessive and emotionally abusive, Bridgers said. He began barraging her with texts, insisting that she prove her whereabouts, or leave social situations to have phone sex, and threatening suicide if she did not reply immediately.

When she broke off the relationship, Bridgers said, Adams became evasive about releasing the music they had recorded together and rescinded the offer to open his upcoming concerts.

When three songs by Bridgers were eventually released by Pax-Am in April 2015, bringing her serious industry attention, the media gave Adams credit for her nascent career.

Through his lawyer, Adams contested how Bridgers described their relationship, calling it “a brief, consensual fling,” though he did not recall any flirty texts. He never told Bridgers he would withhold her songs, he said.

Bridgers said that after their breakup, Adams continued to tease opportunities while pursuing her. He offered her a few dates opening for him on tour in 2017, and after much discussion with her manager about Adams’ behavior, Bridgers said she accepted because it was a big opportunity before the release of her debut album.

“Then, the first day, he asked me to bring him something in his hotel room,” she said. “I came upstairs and he was completely nude.” (Adams, through his lawyer, denied this incident.)

Two additional female singer-songwriters, who declined to be identified for fear of retribution, described a similar pattern of behavior from Adams: raving about their work and offering tour spots amid aggressive romantic pursuit, followed by harassing messages and threats of professional retaliation when the relationships did not progress as he wanted.

Another artist, Courtney Jaye, who was then 35 and not signed to a label, got a direct message from Adams on Twitter in 2013 with immediate offers to collaborate. “You are a psychedelic Ronstadt hybrid,” he gushed. “Come let’s make some music.” They exchanged messages about what her next album should sound like, and Adams offered to produce it, she said.

But when they got together days later to work on ideas, Adams began remarking on Jaye’s appearance and moving in on her — “Hurricane Ryan,” as she described him. She said she tried to deflect his attention, and failed; having been victimized before, Jaye added, “I just shut myself off.” They wound up in bed, but didn’t have sex.

Jaye felt shaken by how smoothly Adams had taken advantage of her, she said, and that night expressed her dismay to him over the phone. Adams maintained that he still wanted to collaborate, and though the pair continued to correspond for a time, they never recorded anything.

Adams’ lawyer said that the singer and Jaye “never had a writing session where they ended up in bed,” and denied that the call afterward took place.

Jaye said: “Something changed in me that year. It made me just not want to make music.”

A Marriage of Music and Control

Even for an artist like Moore, now a star of the hit series “This Is Us,” Adams could wield his influence in damaging ways.

When they met in 2007, she was 23, he a decade older. Professionally, Moore was at a turning point: She was exiting her teen-pop years, and his reputation as a sensitive, authentic voice provided the artistic credibility she craved. In 2010, Adams offered to work on her next album; when she parted ways with her music manager, Adams discouraged her from working with other producers or managers, she said, effectively leaving him in charge of her music career.

They wrote songs together regularly that Adams promised to record, but never did. He booked them time at his studio, only to replace her with other female artists, she said. And he lashed out in ways that Moore came to consider psychologically abusive.

Adams lorded his artistic accomplishments over her, she said. “He would always tell me, ‘You’re not a real musician, because you don’t play an instrument.'”

Through his lawyer, Adams called Moore’s characterization of their time together “completely inconsistent with his view of the relationship,” adding that he was supportive of her “well-deserved professional success.” The lawyer said Adams had been happy to help her career and had not prevented her from working with others.

She released her sixth LP, completed before their marriage, shortly after they wed in 2009, and has released no albums 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,” she said. Their divorce was finalized in 2016.

Megan Butterworth, Adams’ ex-fiancée, also described him as a controlling and emotionally abusive partner, who later targeted her with digital harassment. During their relationship, he isolated her socially and professionally, she said, trying to dictate who she saw or worked with. And he could turn rageful, smashing things and physically intimidating her, she said, though he never hit her.

When she left him in 2018, Butterworth said, he inundated her with hundreds of text messages, phone calls and emails, oscillating between emotional pleas and vitriol, and also threatened suicide and lawsuits. The Times has reviewed dozens of these messages. (Adams, through his lawyer, disputed Butterworth’s account of his behavior as controlling, abusive, or physically intimidating.)

Adams also posted images of Butterworth to his Instagram account, tagging her friends and even a family member: “Get it while it’s hot folks,” one read. “[Butterworth] IS SINGLE.”

Only recently did the women discover that their experiences overlapped. And in the last few months, Moore and several others who said they were scarred by their relationships with Adams have found one another, creating a support system.

“What you experience with him — the treatment, the destructive, manic sort of back and forth behavior — feels so exclusive,” Moore said. “You feel like there’s no way other people have been treated like this.”

Realizing they were not alone, the women chose to speak out about their experiences in the hopes of protecting others and moving forward, they said.

“I want to make music,” Moore said. “I’m not going to let Ryan stop me.”

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/13/arts/music/ryan-adams-women-sex.html" id="00d322ae-4964-379b-aedf-33ea17c537c8">The New York Times</a>.

Ryan Adams Dangled Success. Women Say They Paid a Price.

For nearly two decades, Ryan Adams, one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of his generation, has been heralded as a mercurial creative genius and a respected industry tastemaker.

From a teenager living in a small town to his ex-wife, singer and actress Mandy Moore, these artists said Adams exploited and then stifled their ambitions. “Music was a point of control for him,” Moore said.

But as they discussed the record, Adams started sending Bridgers flirty texts, she said, and a whirlwind romance commenced.

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Joe Coscarelli and Melena Ryzik

Articles written by the author

Ryan Adams Dangled Success. Women Say They Paid a Price.

Ryan Adams Dangled Success. Women Say They Paid a Price.

Ryan Adams Dangled Success. Women Say They Paid a Price.

Ryan Adams Dangled Success. Women Say They Paid a Price.