On Sunday, the organizers of Soulshine at Sea 3, a concert cruise that was scheduled to set sail from Miami to Cozumel, Mexico, in November, announced that the event had been canceled. The news comes amid allegations that its headliner, singer Michael Franti, abused another musician, prompting other performers to pull out.
Last week, Spanish American singer-songwriter Victoria Canal released a statement on Instagram accusing an unnamed “very powerful, decades-older man” of grooming and assaulting her when she was 19 and starting out in the music industry. Canal said she was not naming her alleged abuser because of the risk of a potential lawsuit.
In the days that followed, multiple artists on the cruise’s lineup pulled out of the event, citing allegations against one of the performers. In an Instagram post, jam band Dispatch said they had “chosen to withdraw from the event” after they became aware of “deeply concerning public allegations involving another artist on the lineup.” Hirie, a reggae musician, also wrote on Instagram that she had “decided to step back” owing to “troubling allegations” against a “key figure connected to the event,” while gospel artist Liz Vice also said she’d “chosen to withdraw from the event” and urged fans to “believe victims.” In an Instagram Story, singer-songwriter Maggie Rose said she had “made the decision to no longer perform” on the cruise because there were “allegations made by a peer of mine about another artist on the lineup and I want to stand in solidarity with her.”
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On Sunday, amid the exodus, event organizers announced that the concert cruise had been called off. “In light of recent events, the Soulshine at Sea with Michael Franti event scheduled for November 4-8, 2025, is cancelled,” they said in a statement posted to Instagram. Organizers said they were “actively working to announce a new event” held on the same dates.
After the concert was called off, Franti released his own statement, in which he acknowledged having 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,” he wrote. “I vehemently dispute any version of the story that says otherwise. 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.”
When contacted for comment, representatives for Canal told the Cut, “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.”
The Cut has reached out to representatives for Franti and Soulshine at Sea and will update this post if we hear back.
