Mandy Moore Sends Support to Phoebe Bridgers Amid Ryan Adams Accusations
Mandy Moore is standing by Phoebe Bridgers after the two women, along with four others, came forward with tales of abuse against Ryan Adams in a New York Times exposé.
The day after the story broke, Bridgers took to Twitter to thank her supporters. She also sent a message to men in the music industry who knew about Adams' behavior, or the behavior of other abusive men in music, and did nothing.
"It's been a weird week and I wanted to say a couple things," the "Motion Sickness" singer wrote. "Thank you from my whole f---ing heart to my friends, my bands, my mom."
Bridgers noted that "they all supported and validated me" and "told me what had happened was f---ed up and wrong, and that I was right to feel wrong about it." The singer said she "couldn't have done this" without that support.
She added, "Ryan had a network too. Friends, bands, people he worked with. None of them held him accountable. They told him, by what they said or by what they didn't, that what he was doing was okay. They validated him. He couldn't have done this without them. Guys, if your friend is acting f---ed up, call them out. If they're actually your friend, they'll listen. That's the way it all gets better."
Moore showed her support by adding a comment to Bridgers' post.
"Spot on," she wrote, along with "love you," written out using emojis.
The "Candy" singer was married to Adams for close to six years. She filed for divorce in January 2015, and then came forward with claims of psychological abuse and controlling behavior. Bridgers echoed many of the same sentiments in the Times expose, telling the outlet "there was a mythology around him" and that "it seemed like he had the power to propel people forward."
Bridgers met him when she was 20, and said their working relationship turned romantic – and abusive – shortly thereafter. She said in the exposé that Adams was obsessive and emotionally abusive toward her, threatening suicide if she didn't respond to his texts immediately. After she ended the relationship, Bridgers said that Adams started avoiding releasing the music they released together and declined a previous offer to allow her to open his concerts.
"Then, the first day, he asked me to bring him something in his hotel room," she recalled, revealing that he eventually invited her to open a few 2017 tour dates for him. "I came upstairs and he was completely nude."
For her part, Moore said Adams would tell her things like, "'you're not a real musician, because you don't play an instrument.'" She said "music was a point of control for him," adding the he'd sometimes offer to record things for her, and refuse to follow through or replace her with different artists.
Adams has apologized for some allegations against him, and denied many others.