A whirlwind week in a bad way for Bay Area musician Michael Franti, as he faces allegations that he sexually groomed a woman when she was 19, had a music event he was headlining canceled, and has suddenly parted with his management agency.

Oakland native Michael Franti, the vocalist for popular bands Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy and Spearhead, has maintained a generally good-guy image and is rather sought-after as a celebrity to show up for political rallies and causes. He warmed up for a Barack Obama fundraiser in SF, hyped up Chesa Boudin, and has wowed crowds at BottleRock and Stern Grove.

But Franti's good-guy image is gone for the foreseeable future. Variety reports that Franti is facing allegations of sexual misconduct and grooming from singer-songwriter Victoria Canal, who says she was 19 when the alleged abuse occurred. Just timelining this, the alleged incidents would have occurred around 2016-17, when Franti would have been 50 or 51, was married to his second wife, and had two children.

Canal posted her original Instagram statements seen above last Monday, August 11 (It's a 12-image carousel post). She does not mention Franti by name, but says that when she was 19, "a very powerful, decades-older man plucked me out of the internet, and college, and invited me on my first professional opportunity." She adds that "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." She says the man felt her up while she slept on his tour bus (the two did tour together), and took photos of her "without my awareness or consent."

Franti's reaction was not necessarily innocent. "7 years ago, I had a relationship outside my marriage," he posted Monday. "It was with an artist who was touring with me. 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 that my actions have caused her. The artist and I had written a song together and later my team offered her a spot on tour as the support act. Over the course of the tour, we spent a lot of time together and soon began to feel strong emotions for one another."

Franti adds that he "made the most regrettable mistake of allowing the relationship to become romantic."

Admittedly, these sound like two very different accounts. But some upcoming concert cruise thing called Soulshine at Sea that Franti was scheduled to headline connected these dots, or felt they did. "In light of recent events, the Soulshine at Sea with Michael Franti event scheduled for November 4-8, 2025, is canceled," the organizers posted. They did not elaborate much, but the meda reports were starting to pile up.

And they continue to pile up. On Monday, Billboard reported that Franti had "parted ways" with his management company of ten years, Activist Artist Management. It is not reported whether they dropped Franti, or he dropped them, or what exactly transpired.

But we can guess why it transpired. And to be honest, we do not expect to see Michael Franti announced as a BottleRock or Stern Grove performer this year.

Related: Danny Glover, Michael Franti, Other Somewhat Famous People Take Sides in San Francisco DA Race [SFist]

Image: CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 10: Michael Franti of Michael Franti & Spearhead performs at The Amp Ballantyne on May 10, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jeff Hahne/Getty Images)