Michael Franti Responds amid Victoria Canal’s Sexual Abuse Allegations

Michael Franti is speaking out after fellow musician Victoria Canal alleged she’d been abused and groomed by a man — whom she didn’t name — at the start of her career.

Franti had been due to headline the annual Soulshine at Sea with Michael Franti cruise, heading from Miami to Cozumel, between Nov. 4-8 this year. However, organizers Sixthman informed booked guests on Friday, Aug 15 that they would be offered refunds or credits, then confirmed in a statement shared on Instagram Sunday, Aug. 17 that the event had since been canceled amid an artist exodus “in light of recent events.”

Said “events” began with Canal’s Aug. 11 birthday Instagram post, which laid out various allegations against an older male musician — but didn’t name Franti — before culminating in the singer-songwriter posting his own statement on Instagram on Sunday, Aug. 17, denying an unnamed artist’s “recent posts.”

Although neither Franti, 59, or Canal, 27, identified one another in their messages, PEOPLE has learned the two are referring to each other in their statements. A rep for Franti did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment, while a manager for Canal tells PEOPLE: “It feels very liberating for Victoria to speak on her experience as she continues to heal. She hopes sharing can help young women entering the world of music to keep their eyes open and protect themselves.”

As outlined by Canal in her Aug. 11 post, “This is something I’ve never spoken about publicly, and have been holding for 8 years now – it has plagued my body, spirit, and mind, in subliminal and overt ways, for my entire 20s.”

“Today, on my 27th birthday, I am choosing my own freedom by sharing this with you all,” the “June Baby” musician wrote. “I am letting it out, to be able to let it go. This decision feels so right in my body.”

In the post, Canal alleged that when she was 19 years old, “a very powerful” and “decades-older man plucked me out of the internet, and college, and invited me on my first professional opportunity,” stating that he comes across as being a “loving, charismatic and principled” family man with a “very active career.”

“However, 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,” Canal claimed.

She said that the man in question had introduced her to his “important contacts,” and the pair had gone on walks together and would chat, before he “slowly and surely” introduced “sexual topics.”

Canal claimed she’d told him she wasn’t sure this was a “good idea” when things started to happen, but he allegedly responded, “It’s fine as long as you don’t tell anyone,” per the lengthy statement, in which she also accused the musician of taking pictures of her without her “awareness or consent.”

“These behaviors progressed over a year, slowly keeping me more isolated in a highly unfamiliar and contained environment,” Canal claimed, adding that she didn’t have a team and was a virgin at the time. She also said she wasn’t provided with her own accommodation “for many months,” and claimed that whenever she wanted to sleep in a bed or have a shower, “he made sure it was his.”

Canal alleged “this experience” lasted “a little over a year” adding that the male eventually “verbally admitted” that getting her “in this position had been his plan all along.” She also said that the alleged grooming and abuse “has had a years-lasting effect” on her “intimate life.”

In the statement, Canal — who previously signed with Parlophone Records — insisted that the person she was referring to was “not among the mentors that have championed me” since she “got signed to a major label in 2022.”

In his own statement posted on Instagram on Sunday, Franti — who has been married to his second wife Sara since 2015 — said that he “vehemently” disputed that the relationship wasn’t consensual, without naming who he was talking about.

“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, based on mutual feelings and attraction,” he wrote. “I vehemently dispute any version of the story that says otherwise.”

He continued, writing: “I will however, take 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 never should have allowed the relationship to become romantic.”

“My wife found out about it and to save my marriage, we ended the relationship,” Franti wrote. “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 … My wife and I have done an incredible amount of work for me to repair the damage that I did. I have and continue to apologize to Sara and my family for the pain that I have caused you.”

He concluded: “I am also apologizing to the artist for the pain you are going through. My mistake was breaking the vows of our marriage, and involving someone else in the breaking of those vows. For that I will have to atone for the rest of my life. A public conversation about a private issue is never easy for anyone involved and I am sorry you are hurting.”

On Monday, Aug. 18, Canal posted an Instagram Stories slide confirming she’d seen “the response statement” and insisting that she’s “used to gaslighting from this person.”

“I’m the one that has to live with effects of what really happened in my body, and I am the one responsible for my own healing,” Canal wrote. “I have no agenda for sharing my story — I simply want to let go.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.