Ryan Adams’ record label has canceled the release of his new album after news broke that the singer-songwriter is being investigated by the feds.
On Thursday, it was reported that the FBI was looking into the musician, 44, after he was accused of trading thousands of graphic messages with an underage girl in a startling New York Times report published Wednesday.
A day later, the paper reported that Bull Moose, a New England record store chain, had posted a message on Twitter from its supplier saying that the album, “Big Colors,” had been canceled “effective immediately.”
Earlier this year, Adams had announced plans to release three albums via Blue Note Records on his own Pax-Am label. “Big Colors,” which was to be distributed by Universal Music Group, was scheduled to come out April 19.
In the Times story highlighting an alleged two-decade-long pattern of emotional abuse and sexual misconduct towards female musicians, Adams was accused of having traded thousands of graphic messages with a woman when she was 15 and 16, writing in one, “If people knew they would say I was like R Kelley [sic] lol.”
Adams responded to the article in a comment sent to Page Six on Wednesday night, saying that while he has “made many mistakes,” the story was “inaccurate.”
“But the picture that this article paints is upsettingly inaccurate. Some of its details are misrepresented; some are exaggerated; some are outright false,” he said. “I would never have inappropriate interactions with someone I though [sic] was underage. Period.”
Adams’ ex-wife Mandy Moore was one of the seven women to talk to the paper about the musician’s behavior, and shortly after the article was published, she wrote on Instagram, “Speaking your truth can be painful and triggering but it’s always worth it. My heart is with all women who have suffered any sort of trauma or abuse. You are seen and heard.”
Universal Music Group did not respond to a request for comment.