While opening up about her relationship with her mother Lenedra Carroll, singer and songwriter Jewel revealed that Carroll has embezzled more than $100 million from her.
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During an appearance on Verywell Mind Podcast with Amy Morin, Jewel stated that Lenedra, who was once her manager, stole all of her money, which she claims was more than $100 million. “I didn’t realize what my mom was until I was 30-something,” the singer explained. “I woke up and realized she embezzled all of my money, over $100 million.”
Jewel then said that at 34 years old, she realized she was $3 million in debt and that her mother stole the money from her. “[I] realized everything I thought my mom was, isn’t what she was,” the signer explained. “[It’s] very difficult psychology thing to come to terms with.”
The You Were Meant For Me hitmaker further opened up about her childhood, including the relationship she had with her mother. “My mom and dad got divorced when I was 8, and we went to live with my dad. Nobody told me it’s because my mom didn’t want to be a mom. She left us, and so my dad took over raising us. I didn’t know that at the time.”
Unfortunately, Jewel’s father became highly abusive towards her. “My dad was this volatile alcoholic that hit me, very easy to identify ‘bad guy.’ My mom seemed like the opposite. She was calm, she was soft, she never yelled, [and] obviously never hit me. And I didn’t realize I was being abused in another way at the time.”
Despite Her Family Issues, Jewel Says Her Parents Are Not ‘Villains’
Although she’s had her fair struggles with her parents, Jewel insists that she doesn’t believe that her parents are not villains.
“My mom isn’t a villain,” Jewel declared. “My dad isn’t a villain. People get some things right and people get some things wrong. And the song for me Family Tree is about looking at that. I think the line is, ‘To take the fruit and choose the seeds you want to scatter into the wind.”
Jewel detailed her childhood in her 2016 memoir Never Broken. She believes anyone who reads the book won’t consider it as a “salacious” book, but rather incredibly forthright. She said her father gave her permission to write about her childhood traumas. “My dad grew up in an abusive household. My dad became abusive. What are cycles of abuse and what kinds of conversations can we have in America about emotional patterns?”
Learning from her own experiences, the singer created a non-profit, Inspiring Children Foundation, which seeks to “transform lives” through a whole human approach to physical, mental, and emotional health.
