Ryan Adams sexual harassment claims: Multiple women accuse singer of misconduct including exposing himself on Skype to underage girl

'If people knew they would say I was like R Kelley lol' Adams is said to have texted a 15-year-old girl when he was 40

Singer-songwriter Ryan Adams has been accused by at least seven women of manipulative behaviour, including instances which saw him use the promise of potential career opportunities before pursuing them for sex, according to a new report from The New York Times.

Adams, who gained critical acclaim in the early 2000s, has long been known for championing of female musicians. But, the newspaper documents a series of troubling allegations, including accusations from his ex-wife that he was abusive during their marriage.

Another woman who claimed he exposed himself to her during a Skype call after they met when she was 14-years-old.

Adams has denied the allegations.

At least seven women and dozens of associates were interviewed for the article. Some alleged that Adams, in some cases, would become domineering and vengeful when rejected. In other instances, he was accused of subjecting the women to verbal or emotional abuse and targetting them on social media and text messages.

One woman called Ava told the newspaper that she met Adams in 2013 when she was 14-years-old. At that time she was a bass player. She said that their correspondence ultimately evolved to include sexting and that he exposed himself during a Skype call with her. Those accounts were corroborated in part through 3,217 text messages from a nine-month period when she was 15 and 16, although the two never met, the newspaper reported.

In one text he wrote to her: "I would get in trouble if someone knew we talked like this".

The newspaper reported that Adams, then 40, frequently mentioned Ava's age and recognised that an explicit relationship between a minor and himself would be frowned upon.

"I never see pics of you anymore," Adams allegedly wrote in a 2014 text.

Days later he compared himself to the disgraced singer R Kelly, who has been accused of grooming teenage girls as "sex pets". He texted: "If people knew they would say I was like R Kelley lol".

The singer's attorney Andrew Brettler said in a statement that Adams "unequivocally denies that he ever engaged in inappropriate online sexual communications with someone he knew was underage."

The musician did not recall those exchanges, he added.

Another woman, Phoebe Bridgers, said that Adams offered to release music on his record label before engaging in a relationship with her.

He then became possessive and verbally abusive she said. After they later split, she said Adams rescinded his invitation for her to open for her on his tour and became evasive about releasing her music on his label. Some music of hers was eventually released through Adams's label.

At least two women described similar encounters with Adams.

His ex-wife, Mandy Moore, also claimed that her ex-husband was verbally abusive.

“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.”

An ex-fiancée said that, when they split up, he barraged her with hundreds of text messages.