“This Is Us” star Mandy Moore says she empathizes with the women who have accused her ex-husband, singer/songwriter Ryan Adams, of exploiting…
“This Is Us” star Mandy Moore says she empathizes with the women who have accused her ex-husband, singer/songwriter Ryan Adams, of exploiting and then stifling female artist’s ambitions because she experienced it herself during their six-year marriage.
“Music was a point of control for him,” Moore said. “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.” They divorced in 2016.
She made the comments to The New York Times in a story that details Adams’ history of taking advantage of championing, manipulating and harassing female aspiring artists, including having phone sex and exchanging graphic texts with an underage girl. Seven women and more than a dozen associates were interviewed for the story.
“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.”
But through the reporting of the Times story, Moore and other women scarred by their relationships with Adams say they have formed a support system and spoken out together in hopes of protecting others.
After the Times story was published Wednesday, Moore posted a message on Instagram about the importance of speaking up.
“Speaking your truth can be painful and triggering but it’s always worth it,” she captioned an image of herself used for the Times’ story. “My heart is with all women who have suffered any sort of trauma or abuse. You are seen and heard. #sisterhoodforever”
Adams, 44, who the Times described as “equal parts punk-rock folk hero and romantic troubadour,” comes off as a manipulative boor in the Times’ reporting, someone who championed upcoming female artists, especially young ones, and promised career advancement while also pursuing them for sex.
If he didn’t get his way, he would sometimes “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 Times reported Wednesday.
Late Wednesday, Adams released a statement through his lawyer, emailed to USA TODAY.
