Mandy Moore, who was married to Ryan Adams from 2009 to 2016, is further expounding on her claims that the singer-songwriter routinely subjected her to psychological abuse throughout the course of their marriage. Appearing on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast on Monday afternoon, Moore said, per Pitchfork, that an “unhealthy dynamic” defined their relationship from the start. “I was living my life for him. I had no sense of self,” she explained. “I felt like I was drowning. It was so untenable and unsustainable and it was so lonely. I was so sad. I was lonely with him.” Moore also said she routinely turned down bigger acting opportunities during their marriage, in fear of how Adams and his toxic dependency would react if she was gone for long periods of time.
“I would do little jobs. It’s not like I completely stopped working. I would do things here or there, but it would become abundantly clear while I was working, things would completely fall apart at home,” she added. “I couldn’t do my job because there was a constant stream of trying to pay attention to this person who needed me and wouldn’t let me do anything else.”
In a New York Times piece published last week, Moore — along with a dozen other women, including Phoebe Bridgers — publicly spoke about Adams’s abuse for the first time. “He would always tell me, ‘You’re not a real musician, because you don’t play an instrument,’” she told the Times, claiming he blackballed her in the music industry. “His controlling behavior essentially did block my ability to make new connections in the industry during a very pivotal and potentially lucrative time — my entire mid-to-late 20s. I want to make music. I’m not going to let Ryan stop me.” Adams denied Moore’s claims about impeding her music career, saying her account was “completely inconsistent with his view of the relationship” and that he always supported her “well-deserved professional success.”