NEWSSinger Jewel Exposes Mom Nedra Carroll's 'Deep, Deep Betrayal' After Being Left $3 Million in Debt
Jewel admitted her mother 'wasn't who I thought she was.'
June 16 2026, Published 12:38 p.m. ET
Jewel recalled the "horrifying" moment she realized she was $3 million in debt — allegedly due to her mother's handling of the star's finances.
"I think it was around 2003 that my money had been mismanaged and my mom wasn’t who I thought she was," Jewel, 52, said during a Tuesday, June 16, appearance on the "No Magic Pill With Blake Mycoskie" podcast. "It was a deep, deep betrayal."
Jewel Recalled Her Mother's 'Deep Betrayal'
Jewel claimed her mother, Nedra Carroll, took $100 million from her over the course of her career.
The singer-songwriter (full name: Jewel Kilcher) first spoke about her estrangement from her mother and former manager, Nedra Carroll, in her 2015 memoir, Never Broken – Songs Are Only Half the Story. Jewel alleged her mom took $100 million from her over the course of her career.
"It took 300 pages for me to try to describe the nature of that relationship and how complicated it was," the Alaskan-born musician explained during the podcast episode. "I was in my 30s when I realized, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m actually broke.’ I tried to make great decisions."
Jewel spoke about her relationship with her mom on the 'No Magic Pill With Blake Mycoskie' podcast.
Jewel Discovered She Was $3 Million in Debt
Jewel revealed she was $3 million in debt after her mother allegedly mismanaged her money.
Jewel called the experience "awful" since it was at the hands of "the person you love most in the world."
"The person whose love you wanted most in the world," she continued. "It was such a difficult thing to recover from. I think I was $3 million in debt on top of it."
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Jewel has said in the past that her mother's betrayal was hard to 'come to terms with.'
The "Sammy the Spider" singer has spoken candidly about her strained relationship with her mom over the years, writing in her 2015 memoir that she misses her maternal figure but doesn't "miss Nedra."
"I can't tell you the tears I've cried to see who my mom really is," read a passage from the book. "I can't tell you about the pain, and how my heart to this day screams to have a mom in my life. But I know that it is not safe with her."
Jewel Called Her Mother's Betrayal 'Difficult'
Jewel reportedly hasn't spoken to her mother since 2010.
Jewel reflected on the emotional toll of her mother's betrayal in a 2023 interview as well, saying, "[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, [it was a] very difficult psychological thing to come to terms with."
"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," Jewel claimed during an appearance on the "Verywell Mind Podcast."
She continued, "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 that I had formed my reality off was fiction."
