Who Is Megan Butterworth? New Details About Ryan Adams' Ex-Fiancé, One Of 7 Women Accusing Him Of Emotional Abuse And Sexual Harassment
She called his behavior controlling and emotionally abusive.
getty Seven women have accused Grammy-nominated musician Ryan Adams of sexual harassment, emotional abuse and manipulating romantic relationships with the promise of opportunities within the music industry. Of those women — one who was reportedly a minor when he was sending her explicit text messages — his ex-wife, Mandy Moore, and his ex-fiance, Megan Butterworth, all share similar stories of harassment and abuse in an expose published Feb. 13 by The New York Times.
Even though the women were promised help with their music careers, most of them quit the industry altogether after their relationships with Adams. Even though he apologized for hurting people "however unintentionally," he posted on Twitter that some of the details in the article are misrepresented, exaggerated or "outright false."
So who is Megan Butterworth, Ryan Adams' ex-fiancé who accused him of emotional abuse?
1. She said Adams' was controlling during their relationship.
In the article, Butterworth describes her relationship to Adams as one full of control and emotional abuse. She said he not only isolated her from friends and family, but also in her career by trying to pick and chose who she saw or worked with.
He never hit her physically but when he was angry, he would allegedly smash things and try to intimidate her.
2. He wouldn't leave her alone when she broke up with him.
When Butterworth dumped Adams in 2018, he took it upon himself to harass her with hundreds of texts, phone calls and emails. The messages would vary from pleas to take him back to cruel words and harsh criticism. Sometime he would even threaten lawsuits or suicide — a pattern he had repeated with some of the other women who spoke out against him.
He even posted photos of Butterworth to his Instagram account and would tag her, her friends and even a member of her family. One in particular was captioned, "Get it while it’s hot folks. Butterworth IS SINGLE.”
3. He denies her view of their relationship.
Through his lawyer Andrew B. Brettler, Adams denied the context of all of the accounts listed in the article. When it comes to Butterworth's description of their relationship, he denies that his behavior toward her was ever "controlling, abusive, or physically intimidating."
4. They started dating in 2016.
Us Weekly first reported that in June of 2016, Adams and Butterworth had started dating. He was spotted with Butterworth out at SXSW in Austin in March and gave her a birthday shoutout on Instagram in April.
“Happy Bday, shiny lovely ancient Moon XOOOOOOOOOOOO Emoticons of fire & stuff,” he captioned a photo of her in bed with a guitar with an American flag behind her hanging on a wall.
He also posted a photo of the two of them hugging and posing together during her birthday party. And another photo he shared was of her during a hike they took on her birthday.
"Beautiful day, Bday hike w her tallness Megs," he wrote.
5. He said he had a "blast" recording an album with her there.
During the 2017 release of his album "Prisoner," he said he had "a blast" while recording the album in New York City because he was close with Butterworth at the time. He even nicknamed her "Megs."
Adams said that before he began recording his album, he was in Los Angeles and "there was a girl here who was f**king awesome."
6. She's a model.
Butterworth worked as a model who has been represented by both Ford Models and Muse. Her modeling profiles start from 2009 and show that she also modeled for Moschino. In 2010, she described her style as "laid-back, comfy, and warm."
When they were dating, she was 27 and he was 41. It's not clear if she's still working as a model.
7. They dated after he and Moore divorced.
Their relationship began over a year after Adams and Moore announced that they were getting a divorce.
"Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams have mutually decided to end their marriage of almost six years," the couple said in a statement in January 2015. "It is a respectful, amicable parting of ways and both Mandy and Ryan are asking for media to respect their privacy at this time."
Right after their split, they sold their $3.2 million home after a stalker was arrested outside their home. Moore filed for divorce from Adams after nearly six years of marriage and at the time, was seeking $37,000 a month in spousal support.
She allegedly wasn't happy that he was only providing enough money to cover half of their mortgage on the home as well as property tax and insurance. In divorce papers, she stated that he earned $151,000 a month, and she only made a quarter of that.
Emily is a writer and editor living in California. She covers all things pop culture, news, and true crime.