John Legend’s manager has revealed that she was once almost assaulted at one of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ parties.
Ty Stiklorius, 49, opened about about the ‘terrifying situation’ in an essay for The New York Times titled, The Music Industry Is Toxic. After P. Diddy, We Can Clean It Up.’
Stiklorius wrote that she was at one of Diddy’s New York Eve parties on a yacht in St. Barts 27 years ago when ‘a man who seemed to be an associate of the party’s host’ lead her to a bedroom and locked the door.
She said she still does not remember how she convinced the man to let her go, but that the horrific memory was brought up by Diddy’s arrest for sex trafficking.
‘Perhaps my nervous babbling – “My brother’s on this boat, and he’s probably looking for me!” — convinced him to unlock the bedroom door and let me go,’ she wrote.
John Legend’s manager Ty Stiklorius, 49, opened about about a ‘terrifying situation’ she experienced at one of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ parties 27 years ago. They are pictured in 2023
The music exec said she still does not remember how she convinced the man to let her go, but that the horrific memory was brought up by Diddy’s arrest for sex trafficking. Diddy is seen in Saint Tropez in 2007
Stiklorius said she did not know who the man was or what his connection, if any, was to Diddy.
She added that two decades in the industry have shown her that her experience ‘was no aberration’ – but a common occurrence in the business.
Instead, Stiklorius added, ‘It was an indicator of a pervasive culture in the music industry that actively fostered sexual misconduct and exploited the lives and bodies of those hoping to make it in the business.’
Moreover, she said, ‘This toxic situation has been allowed to fester because power has been concentrated in the hands of kingmakers: wealthy, entitled, nearly always male gatekeepers who control nearly every door that leads to success and who can, without consequence, use their power to abuse young women and young men.
‘Too often, women have not been safe in recording studios, on tour buses, in green rooms or in offices. It’s not a bug of the music business; it’s a major feature.’
Stiklorius wrote that two decades in the industry have shown her that her experience ‘was no aberration’ – but a common occurrence in the business
The music exec shared that she was ready to give up on the industry until her old college friend, Legend, reached out to her in 2005. She is seen with legend in 2023
Stiklorius said that a few years later, a senior music executive slipped his key card to her under the table at a dinner as ‘an unsubtle invitation to his hotel room,’ – which she declined.
The music exec shared that she was ready to give up on the industry until her old college friend, Legend, reached out to her in 2005.
Despite her bad experiences in the music industry, Stiklorius said Diddy’s arrest offers an opportunity to clean up the business.
‘We have an opportunity to turn the page on an archaic, sometimes predatory model of doing business in which it was all too common to ignore, protect or elevate predators and their enablers,’ she wrote.
Diddy, 54, is incarcerated in a New York City jail after pleading not guilty to federal charges that include allegations he coerced and abused women and silenced victims through blackmail and violence.
The mogul is also facing more than a dozen lawsuits from men and women who say they were sexually abused by him.
