Jania Ashlynn
Jewel was a guest on the Verywell Mind Podcast with Amy Morin. In a segment of the show she talked about her mental health and her relationship with her parents. Specifically, when her mother and manager at the time, Lenedra, stole $100 million worth of jewelry from her.
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Growing Up
“I didn’t really realize what my mom was until I was 30-something. I woke up and realized she embezzled all of my money, over $100 million. Thirty-four years old, realize I’m $3 million in debt, realize my mom stole it, realize everything I thought my mom was, isn’t what she was, very difficult psychological thing to come to terms with,” she shared.
She continued to discuss aspects of her childhood as well as details about her relationship 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.”
“My dad was this volatile alcoholic that hit me,” she explained, “very easy to identify ‘bad guy.’ My mom seemed like the opposite. She was calm, she was soft, she never yelled, obviously never hit me. And I didn’t realize I was being abused in another way at the time.”
Moving On
In Never Broken, the singer’s memoir in 2016, she outlined additional memories that she has from growing up.
“I think that anybody that reads the book won’t consider this a salacious book, but it is incredibly forthright,” Jewel said. “My dad gave me permission. … 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?”
“My mom isn’t a villain,” she continued. “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.'”
