Ryan Adams was "confused" when Mandy Moore joined a number of women in accusing him of emotional abuse.

Ryan Adams

Ryan Adams

The 46-year-old singer was the subject of allegations from his ex-wife, Phoebe Bridgers and other females published in the New York Times in February 2019 and the 'Wonderwall' singer - who subsequently lost his manager and record deal and had a planned tour axed - admitted he didn't understand why the 'This Is Us' actress brought up what had happened in their marriage because it would only "hurt" those who cared about him.

Speaking to Los Angeles Magazine in his first interview since 2019, Ryan said: "I was like, 'What is the point of this now? Because this is going to hurt my family and it’s going to hurt our friends.' And we talked about this stuff years ago. Dissolving a marriage is one of the most difficult and soul-crushing things you can do. And the best you can do is to do it with care. We did the best that we could. So, yeah, I was a little confused."

The 'Do You Still Love Me?' singer's marriage to Mandy ended in 2016 after they had been separated for some time but they had been communicating amicably about their animals until a few months before the New York Times article was published.

Mandy went on to marry Taylor Goldsmith in 2018 and her ex-husband wrote her a letter to express his joy she'd found happiness again when they got engaged.

He said: "When she got engaged, I wrote her a letter saying that I am so proud of her and so happy for them...

"We had those kinds of exchanges and they meant a lot to me."

Asked about the contents of the note, he said he joked about being the "worst-ever FedEx delivery system, but our journey led you to this perfect, wonderful man."

Mandy had previously told how Ryan's "controlling behaviour" damaged her music career and alleged he had told her she wasn't a "real musician" because she didn't "play an instrument".

However, he said: "If that were to ever to come out of my mouth, I would have hoped that it was followed immediately by a sincere apology.

"I am capable of saying things that I later regret and it sucks to ever have that happen."

And he insisted he hadn't held back the 'Lucky' hitmaker.

He said: "I don’t know how I would’ve prevented her from exploring that or pursuing it with someone else if I couldn’t offer it.

"I understand her disappointment. I see her point of view. I understand the frustration she must have been feeling. I wanted to be as helpful as I could."

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