A law enforcement official has told the NYT that the F.B.I were investigating whether Adams committed a crime by engaging in sexually explicit communications with an underage fan.

On February 13, The New York Times published a blistering report into sexually misconduct by Ryan Adams, alleging that he had engaged in emotional and psychological abuse with up to seven women - including fellow musicians Phoebe Bridgers and Mandy Moore - and had sent sexually explicit messages and photos to a girl, named Ava in the article, when she was just 15.

The underage girl is believed to have been a musician in her own right, and she alleges that she began talking to Adams online in 2013, when she was 14. According to the report, they never met in person but she claimed the musician would send her graphic texts and once exposed himself to her during a video call.

In messages reviewed by the Times, Adams asked the teenager to keep their conversations secret. The report documents how he asked her several times to tell him she was 18, sometimes asking her to show him ID, which she never did, although she said she sometimes told him she was older than she was. When Ava was 16, he texted her saying: “I never see pics of you anymore. You were blowing my mind.”

In a statement released through his lawyer, Adams denied claims that he “ever engaged in inappropriate online sexual communications with someone he knew was underage”. Adams' lawyer, Andrew B. Brettler, also said that Adams denied the “extremely serious and outlandish accusations” that he claimed were “grousing by disgruntled individuals” who blamed him for “personal or professional disappointments.”

Adams also said, through his lawyer, that he does have “communications online with various fans and aspiring musicians” but “does not recall having online communications with anyone related to anything outside of music.” His lawyer also added that he was unaware of Ava being underage, suggesting that she looked “approximately 20” in photos at the time and had performed in clubs.

Brettler added: “Mr. Adams unequivocally denies that he ever engaged in inappropriate online sexual communications with someone he knew was underage.”

According to the Times, F.B.I. agents in the bureau’s New York office have now taken “the first steps to open a criminal investigation.”