Rocker Ryan Adams‘ immediate response to the New York Times reporting on his allegedly abusive relationships with multiple women was to say he was “f—ing taking you down” with a lawsuit — which he quickly deleted and replaced with a more temperate series of tweets.
“Happy Vanentines (sic) day @nytimes,” he wrote, and then deleted, before the newspaper’s devastating report was even published. “I know you got lawyers. But do you have the truth on your side. No. I do. And you have run out of friends. My folks are NOT your friends. Run your smear piece. But the legal eagles see you. Rats. I’m f—ing taking you down. Let’s learn I bait,” the post mysteriously ended, accompanied by a mocking photo of Ryan holding what appeared to be dessert snacks over his eyes.
That tweet quickly was taken down, as the gravity of his position seemed to kick in.
“I am not a perfect man and I have made many mistakes,” he wrote in the first of three new tweets after the Times’ story appeared. “To anyone I have ever hurt, however unintentionally, I apologize deeply and unreservedly.
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“But the picture that this article paints is upsettingly inaccurate. 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.
“As someone who has always tried to spread joy through my music and my life, hearing that some people believe I caused them pain saddens me greatly,” he wrote in the final tweet for the time being. “I am resolved to work to be the best man I can be. And I wish everyone compassion, understanding and healing.”
Adams was responding to a detailed New York Times piece that alleged that Adams’ manipulative relationships with women were laid out by seven women and more than a dozen associates in their reporting.
The mercurial singer/songwriter may not be able to count on a quorum of fellow musicians to rise to his defense. The female-fronted band Best Coast tweeted: “The saddest part about the NYT article on Ryan Adams is that it could literally be written about so many dudes in music. Also my favorite type of male apology is the kind where they literally don’t apologize at all lol.”
