Alternative singer-songwriter Ryan Adams has been accused by several women of emotional abuse and exploiting his position as a career mentor as a means to obtain sex. An expose in The New York Times details a pattern of manipulative behavior from the 44-year-old Grammy-nominated artist, including testimony from performer Mandy Moore, his ex-wife. In one instance the paper-which interviewed more than half a dozen women and reviewed a trove of the US rocker's digital communications-describes Adams as sending graphic texts to a 14-year-old aspiring bass player and exposing himself on Skype. The paper said he continued the sexually provocative correspondence for months despite appearing to doubt that she was of age.
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The country-influenced rocker-known for his strong personality-also allegedly presented women with opportunities to build their profiles while pursuing sex with them, turning angry and sometimes verbally abusive when rejected. Adams, who found fame as a solo artist in the 2000s thanks to his debut album "Heartbreaker," apologized but denied the accusations shortly after the story's publication, saying "to anyone I have ever hurt, however unintentionally, I apologize deeply and unreservedly."
"But the picture that this article paints is upsettingly inaccurate," he tweeted. "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." Adams' ex-wife Moore-who rose to celebrity as a pop star and now acts in the series "This Is Us"-said Adams belittled her career while engaging in a "destructive, manic sort of back and forth behavior." "Music was a point of control for him," she said. The music industry has been less impacted by the #MeToo movement and crusades against workplace harassment than industries including Hollywood and media. The allegations against Adams come amid renewed scrutiny of R&B superstar R Kelly, 52, whose career has flourished for decades despite accusations of child pornography, sex with minors, operating a sex cult and sexual battery.-AFP