Michael Franti, the American singer and leader of Spearhead, has admitted to cheating on his wife seven years ago by inviting a younger woman to accompany him on a headline tour.
In a statement to his over 262,000 Instagram followers, Franti revealed a covert love affair that ended only after his wife discovered it. The Spearhead leader described the relationship as “the most regrettable mistake” and stated it was with an artist who travelled with him seven years ago.
“I broke my wedding vows, I broke my wife’s trust, I broke her heart and for that I am deeply sorry for the pain my actions have caused her,” Franti stated.
“My wife found out about it and to save my marriage, we ended the relationship.”
Victoria Canal's allegation against Michael Franti
The announcement followed singer-songwriter Victoria Canal's revelation of a year-long, allegedly violent relationship with an older, “very powerful” man in the music industry.
{{/usCountry}}The announcement followed singer-songwriter Victoria Canal's revelation of a year-long, allegedly violent relationship with an older, “very powerful” man in the music industry.
{{/usCountry}}Taking to Instagram last Monday, Canal in a post made the accusation, claiming she was deceived and groomed, although she did not identify the individual.
While Canal did not identify Franti, she has given him credit for finding her on Instagram in 2018 at the age of 19, and then invited her to join him on his main tour.
“This is something I’ve never spoken about publicly, and have been holding for eight years now — it has plagued my body, spirit, and mind, in subliminal and overt ways, for my entire 20s,” Canal stated.
She claimed that the man was “loving, charismatic, and principled” in public but aggressive and domineering in private. She even alleged that he touched and took pictures of her without her permission and gradually disconnected her from other people.
“At the time, this person made me believe that if I ever told anyone what he was doing, my career would be over before it started.”
Michael Franti says he was ‘aware of the recent posts this artist made’
In his statement, Franti expressed his awareness of the artist's recent posts regarding their relationship.
“While I support her need to express herself publicly, the relationship was completely consensual, based on mutual feelings and attraction,” he stated, adding that he “vehemently dispute any version of the story that says otherwise.”
He went on to apologising to his wife, Sara, and the family, disclosing that they both “have done an incredible amount of work for me to repair the damage that I did.”
Franti and his band are currently on a US tour. The November Soulshine at Sea music cruise, where he was scheduled to perform, was canceled due to the accusations.