Jewel Claims Her Mother 'Embezzled' Over $100 Million From Her

Jewel got a lot off her chest when she joined the Verywell Mind Podcast and claimed, among other things, that her mother embezzled millions and millions of dollars from her.

In a candid conversation with host and licensed therapist Amy Morin, the 48-year-old singer claimed that an investigation revealed her mother, Leandra Carroll, embezzled more than $100 million of her money. She added that, at 34 years old, she realized she was $3 million in debt, and she pointed the finger at her mother, whom she's been estranged from since the early 2000s.

"Thirty-four years old, I realize I'm $3 million in debt, realize my mom stole it, realize everything I thought my mom was isn't what she was," the four-time GRAMMY nominee alleged. "Very difficult psychological thing to come to terms with."

"I didn't realize what my mom was until I was 30-something. I woke up and realized she embezzled all of my money, over $100 million," said Jewel, whose mother once also served as her business manager.

As if that wasn't already enough to grasp, Jewel says she learned that her father, Atz Kilcher, didn't "steal" her and her three brothers away from her mother. She says, far from it.

"And then as I started investigating the truth about what my mom had told me in my life versus what was true, I had realized that pretty much everything I formed my reality on was a fiction," she said. "For instance, my dad didn't take us away from my mom. He actually did a good thing and didn't steal us. I thought he had stolen us or was blackmailing my mom to not have us ... actually realized my mom left us because she didn't want to be a mom. Having to go back as a 34-year-old and re-work your psyche was not fun, but so powerful."

While she commended her father for doing the brave thing and raising them, Jewel also said it was anything but perfect.

"My dad was this volatile alcoholic that hit me, very easy to identify 'bad guy,'" she claimed. "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."

For example, Jewel claimed her mother played mind games with her.

"Let's say I would show up on her doorstep, she would say, 'Your mind is so powerful. Our minds are only tap, we use, like, one to 10 percent of our brain power. Our minds are so powerful and I think you, Jewel, are so powerful that I think you could sit here and stare at this light bulb and you might be able to get it to turn off with your mind,'" she said. "That is such an abusive, effed up thing to say, but I felt so loved. What it actually was was my mom didn't want to stay there and be with me, and she babysat me by having me watch light bulbs. So sometimes the appearance of an attached figure isn't what it seems."

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