Music

“I Was So Sad”: Mandy Moore Opens Up About Her “Unhealthy” Relationship With Ryan Adams

"I had no sense of self...It was so untenable and unsustainable and it was so lonely," Moore has said.

by Joseph Earp  19 February 2019
Ryan Adams

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It’s been a little under a week since the New York Times first dropped its story about Ryan Adams, a singer-songwriter with an alleged history of manipulative — and in one instance illegal — relations with a range of women looking to break out in the industry.

— Warning: this article discusses alleged child and sexual abuse. — 

Since then Big Colours, one of the three records that the musician planned to release this year, has been dropped from the forthcoming release schedule, and a range of sponsors have moved to distance themselves from him.

Now, two women who have been allegedly mistreated by the man have released statements.

First, Phoebe Bridgers, a talented singer-songwriter who Adams “barraged with texts”, manipulated with tour offers, and allegedly non-consensually appeared nude in front of, released a statement concerning his behaviour.

Bridgers’ statement focuses on the network around the performer: “They validated him,” Bridgers wrote. “He couldn’t have done this without them.”

Now, Adams’ ex-wife Mandy Moore has appeared on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast to discuss her relationship with the disgraced singer-songwriter. Though the episode was recorded before the New York Times article came out, Moore goes deep on her time with Adams, focusing on the means he used to control her and the damage that he did to her then developing career as an actress and as a musician.

“I was living my life for him,” Moore told Maron. “I had no sense of self … It was so untenable and unsustainable and it was so lonely. I was so sad. I was lonely with him.”

Moore told Maron that when she was away on a job, things would “completely fall apart.” Adams “wouldn’t let” Moore do anything other than pay attention to him, and made it abundantly clear that the relationship would not survive unless she passed up larger projects and took small jobs that could increase the amount of time that she spent with him.

You can listen to the podcast in full here. Adams has denied Bridgers’ and Moore’s allegations.