Who is Michael Franti’s wife? All we know as San Francisco musician denies Victoria Canal abuse allegations after the Soulshine cruise cancellation

San Francisco-based singer, songwriter, and activist Michael Franti has denied the allegations of s*xual abuse and grooming made by musician Victoria Canal last week. In an August 17 post on Instagram, he explained that seven years ago, he had a “romantic relationship outside my marriage” 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, based on mutual feelings and attraction. I vehemently dispute any version of the story that says otherwise,” Franti stated.

Michael Franti, who is married to Sara Agah, continued that he not only broke his “wedding vows” but also his wife’s trust and heart, for which he is “deeply sorry,” especially because of the “pain” his “actions” caused her.

The Oakland native’s statement of denial comes after several artists declined to perform at the Soulshine at Sea music cruise, including ALO, Dispatch, Maggie Rose, Liz Vice, and Tank and the Bangas, citing “deeply concerning allegations” against a fellow performer.

As a result, festival promoter Sixthman cancelled the sold-out music cruise on August 17. Michael Franti was the headliner of Soulshine at Sea, which was a four-day voyage from Miami to Cozumel scheduled for November 2025.

All you need to know about Michael Franti’s personal life

Michael Franti was married to his first wife, Tara Franti-Rye, between 1998 and 2004. They share a son named Ade. Later, he walked down the aisle with Sara Agah. They have two children, born in September 2018 and May 2025, respectively. Franti has one more kid and a total of four children.

Sara Agah is a former emergency nurse and jewelry designer who is now an entrepreneur. She obtained a B.Sc. in Registered Nursing and an M.Sc. in Public Health from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

She co-founded the nonprofit Do It For The Love in 2013 with her husband. According to Sara’s LinkedIn bio, it is a “wish-granting nonprofit organization that brings adults and children living with life-threatening illnesses or severe challenges and wounded veterans to live concerts.”

“We believe in healing through music,” it added.

Agah is also the co-owner and CEO of Soulshine Sound, a wellness resort in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, which was founded in 2015. It comprises a hotel, a retreat, and a day club.

Previously, Michael Franti’s second wife worked as a registered nurse at the Royal University Hospital and St. Paul’s General Hospital, both in Saskatoon, Canada. She was also associated with the International Medical Corps and San Joaquin Community Hospital in Bakersfield, California.

Other roles Sara Agah served in include project manager at Health Canada, Promotions & Information Consultant at Saskatchewan Abilities Council in Canada, and wellness coordinator for Cameco Corporation. She uses the pronouns she/ her and has an active Instagram account with over 45.5K followers.

More about Michael Franti’s latest statement refuting the abuse allegations

Over the weekend, Michael Franti acknowledged being romantically involved with another woman while being married to Sara Agah. However, he refuted the abuse claims.

“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,” Franti continued.

According to the Spearhead band member, he and Victoria Canal collaborated on a song in 2018, and his team later invited her to tour with them. During this time, they spent a lot of time together and began developing “strong emotions for one another.”

Michael further argued that as soon as his wife found out about his affair, he “ended” what he described as a “regrettable mistake.” Since then, he and Canal reportedly shared a “professional relationship.”

Franti mentioned he and Sara Agah “have done an incredible amount of work for me to repair the damage that I did,” while claiming the brief affair between him and Victoria was “consensual.”

In his recent statement, Michael Franti apologized to his wife, children, and family.

“I am also apologizing to the artist for the pain that you are going through. My mistake was breaking the vows of our marriage, and involving someone else… For that, I will have to atone for the rest of my life,” he went on.

The Stay Human singer added, “A public conversation about a private issue is never easy for anyone involved, and I am sorry you are hurting.”

Franti concluded by saying he had his “good qualities” as well as his “flaws” and was trying to “work on them” every day. He promised to “become the person” that the world wanted him to be, while focusing on his music and philanthropy.

“I want to thank everyone in our community who reached out to me with such kindness and care, and to those who were hurting in the unknown, I see you. Thank you to those who are holding us in your heart as my family and I navigate something like this for the first time,” the statement read.

Just like Victoria Canal did not name anyone in her accusation, Michael Franti also refrained from using her name.

On August 11, Canal took to Instagram and shared a lengthy post, calling it a “gift to myself.” In it, she claimed to be in a year-long abusive relationship with a “very powerful” man in the industry, eight years back.

She alleged being manipulated, groomed, and isolated in the said relationship, at the time when she was 19. Canal claimed that the male artist reportedly touched and clicked her pictures without consent and threatened to destroy her career if she ever went public.

Trending

“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,” Victoria wrote.

While Canal did not name her abuser, she mentioned Michael Franti as the artist who discovered her on Instagram in 2018. Now, in the wake of Franti’s response, Victoria has reposted his statement on her Instagram Stories, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. She also offered her gratitude to those who supported her during this time.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback