Pop-reggae artist Michael Franti is no longer represented by Activist Artist Management, Variety has confirmed. The split comes after accusations of sexual misconduct were levied at Franti, initiated by posts from singer-songwriter Victoria Canal. The news was first reported by Billboard.
On Aug. 11, without naming names, Canal posted to Instagram that “a very powerful, decades-older man plucked me out of the internet, and college, and invited me on my first professional opportunity” when she was 19. She continued, “Behind closed doors, this person has a history of incredibly damaging behavior across the board, and has a team of enablers around him who have fiercely protected his image, perpetuating this behavior for decades.” Among the behaviors Canal described were touching her while she was asleep on her bus bunk and taking photos “without my awareness or consent,” behaviors that “progressed over a year.”
Saying she was a virgin at the time the “grooming” started, Canal said, “This experience, which lasted a little over a year, has had a years-long effect on my intimate life. At the end of it, this person verbally admitted to me (while I was in an extremely vulnerable position) that getting me in this position had been his plan all along — from the moment he saw my face on the internet — a confession that froze me in time, and debilitated my body from feeling pleasure and freedom for years and years.” She said that she had begun “making art about it,” including a forthcoming song called “Body Behave” “and a deeply mournful EP I’ll put out one of these days.” Canal added that she had only become fully aware of the damage from the relationship when she was assaulted by a stranger in a rehearsal space earlier this year and memories began flooding back.
On Monday, Franti responded — without naming his accuser — by admitting to having an extramarital affair seven years ago “with an artist who was touring with me… I’m aware of the recent posts this artist made about our relationship, and while I support her need to express herself publicly, the relationship was completely consensual … I vehemently dispute any version of the story that says otherwise.” He did express regret for betraying his wife and said that he was “tak(ing) full accountability for not better recognizing the power imbalance as she was younger than me, and I was the headliner on tour. For those reasons alone, I should never have allowed the relationship to become romantic.”
Shortly after Franti’s response was posted, the sold-out Soulshine at Sea cruise-festival announced its complete cancellation. “In light of recent events, the Soulshine at Sea with Michael Franti event scheduled for November 4-8, 2025, is canceled,” organizers wrote. The cancellation was announced after several artists had announced they were dropping off the bill.
“We have been made aware of deeply concerning public allegations involving another artist on the [Sunshine at Sea] lineup and have chosen to withdraw from the event,” the band Dispatch wrote. “We are doing the same,” singer-songwriter Maggie Rose responded in the comments.
Representatives for Franti and Activist did not respond to requests for comment.
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Canal later shared several responses she received after her post, from women who said they were subject to or knew of experiences that felt similar to Canal’s. “There were more to share,” Carla wrote in the post’s caption, “but as is totally understandable, not everyone feels comfortable speaking out on their experience regardless of anonymity. It’s a scary thing. Let this be a shedding of light on my own discovery — that I am not the only victim of this person… You have no idea what it means to me for people to see the truth and to support me in my own letting go and healing.”
From Variety US