John Legend's manager Ty Stiklorius recounts ‘terrifying’ episode at Diddy's yacht party in scathing op-ed
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: John Legend's manager Ty Stiklorius is done keeping quiet about the music industry’s seedy underbelly.
After Sean “Diddy” Combs was recently arrested on sex trafficking charges, Ty felt compelled to speak up and penned a deeply personal op-ed for The New York Times.
She opened up about her own chilling experience at one of Diddy’s parties years ago and shed light on the troubling culture that has been allowed to run wild in the music business for far too long.
A party nightmare that still haunts Ty Stiklorius
Ty started off by recounting a rather terrifying moment from her past - a New Year’s Eve party hosted by Diddy on a yacht in St Barts nearly three decades ago. She was fresh out of college and probably excited to be in the mix, but things took an eerie turn when “a man who seemed to be an associate of the party’s host” led her into a bedroom and locked the door.
Alone and afraid, she somehow talked her way out of the situation by nervously mentioning her brother’s presence on the boat.
“To this day, I can’t remember how I managed to talk my way out of that terrifying situation,” she wrote. “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.”
At the time, she brushed it off thinking it was a one-off incident. Just one random guy acting badly at a party, right? But with years in the industry behind her and recent allegations against Diddy, she realizes that moment was a glimpse into something bigger - something toxic that’s been festering in the industry for years.
Twenty years into her career, Ty’s seen enough to understand that her experience wasn’t an exception but part of a broader culture.
“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,” she wrote.
Stiklorius continued, “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.”
Diddy’s arrest might be the dawn of a new day
The timing of her op-ed isn’t random. With Diddy’s arrest — which includes charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and facilitating prostitution — Ty saw an opportunity for a reckoning. Combs has pleaded not guilty, but his case has people taking a hard look at the music industry and its underbelly.
Ty is hopeful that this scandal can finally start dismantling the “gatekeeper” culture that’s allowed too much abuse to go unchecked. “All of this means 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.
Ty’s message? Now’s the time to clean house and put an end to an era of unchecked power and abuse. She’s calling for a new kind of music industry - one that doesn’t sweep glaring misconduct under the rug but actually respects and protects its people.
She knows change is possible because she’s been part of it herself, especially in her work with John Legend. Since joining forces in 2005, she and Legend have been trying to create an environment that actually nurtures talent instead of exploiting it.
Legend is “among the artists who want to be a part of a different model of business and culture,” she wrote.
