Ryan Adams’ guitarist, former tour manager weigh in on abuse allegations

Following abuse allegations made by multiple women, Ryan Adams’ guitarist Todd Wisenbaker and former tour manager Thomas Goodman have taken to their own social media platforms to weigh in on the situation.

According to BrooklynVegan, both Goodman and Wisenbaker have shown their support to the women alleging abuse from Adams.

Read more: Ryan Adams accused of sexual misconduct, abuse by multiple women

“Some time ago, I told him to get help and he asked me to help him,” Wisenbaker says in an Instagram post. “I don’t regret and will never regret trying to help someone in real need — I believe in forgiveness, redemption and recovery, but my life has become a completely shitstorm of someone else’s utter delusion. I didn’t want to say anything because I’m actively afraid of for the safety of my family, but I do realize that I have a responsibility to speak up.”

 

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This is incredibly hard for me to do but Ryan please get help.

A post shared by Todd Wisenbaker C.G.P. (@totally_tod) on

According to Tone Deaf, his former tour manager also posted a response of his own, this time in a Ryan Adams Facebook group. Goodman says that he never saw Adams exhibit abusive behavior toward women in his early touring years from 1997 to 2000. However, Goodman adds that he rarely saw the artist show empathy. That said, Goodman says that he is not surprised by the recent allegations.

You can read Goodman’s statement below: 

“Since the news about Ryan broke a few days ago, many people have contacted me, so I wanted to share my thoughts.
I was the tour manager of Ryan Adams’s band Whiskeytown from early 1997 until they broke up in the spring of 2000. I wrote a book about that experience called Waiting To Derail, which was released in June 2018.
During my time with Ryan, I never witnessed any abusive behavior towards women. However, this was over 20 years ago, long before he had any real success.
I knew him to be a musical genius, funny and charismatic. He could also be mean and vindictive, showing little to no empathy for people.
Many times, I saw him use people–almost always to advance his art or his career–and then suddenly, without warning, ghost them and disappear out of their lives.
He did the same to me in late 2000, since then I’ve had very little contact with him.
Sadly, I find these disturbing stories about Ryan to be easily believable. He is very smart and charming and is quick to use that to be retaliatory and manipulative.
By coincidence, I also worked with Mandy Moore when she was a teenager. I found her to be a kind and honest person.
It saddens me to hear these stories. These brave women are heroes, as it’s hard to call out a bully, especially a bully that hides behind promises to make your career–and threats to break it.
We all should stand with these women. I hope they can find some resolution and not lose their faith in their talent or in the power of music. Music can be one of the world’s most positive and unifying things. It’s disgusting to see it used as a cover for such unacceptable behavior.”

What we know about the allegations against Ryan Adams so far:

Last week, a New York Times exposé gave women a platform to come forward about their alleged abusive relationships with the singer-songwriter. Many women came forward in the piece, including Phoebe Bridgers, ex-wife Mandy Moore and musician Courtney Jaye. The women cited abuse ranging from psychological manipulation to sexual misconduct.  

Alongside the many women to spoke to the Times was 20-year-old “Ava,” who was only 14 at the time Adams began corresponding with her. Now, the FBI is looking into this specific incident of abuse and has made the first move to open a criminal investigation.

Adams has since denied the allegations against him in both the story and on Twitter.

Read more: Mandy Moore addresses Ryan Adams relationship, new music

Yesterday, Moore shared that their “unhealthy dynamic” stunted her career.

“I was living my life for him. I had no sense of self,” Moore says in a podcast with Marc Maron. “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.”

The day prior, Phoebe Bridgers spoke out further about her relationship with Adams.  

Since the allegations arose, multiple stations have taken Adams’ music out of rotation.

“We pulled all of his music today, which was a difficult decision,” a programmer says to Billboard. “On the one hand, I believe in innocent until proven guilty, but on the other hand, in the court of public opinion, he has already been convicted. And public opinion is what impacts our listeners.”

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