Ever since the arrest of Sean “Diddy” Combs last month, we have seen a constant stream of additional accusations against the rapper and those associated with him. While most celebrities who previously attended Diddy’s famous parties have remained quiet since the arrest, one very significant name has come forward to recount her own story, making it clear she believes Combs is only part of a larger problem.
Ty Stiklorius manages John Legend and founded the management company Friends at Work. In a new op-ed for the New York Times, she recounts an experience nearly three decades ago, before she was in the industry, where she was able to get on board a yacht where Diddy was hosting a New Year’s Eve party. She says at one point she found herself locked in a bedroom with an unknown man and had to talk her way out. She explained…
At the time, I assumed my experience was an anomaly, just one guy behaving badly at a drunken party. I still don’t know who he was…But I do now know, after 20 years as a music industry executive, that what happened that night was no aberration — 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.
While Stiklorius had a dangerous experience associated with Diddy, and others who worked with him have recounted similar experiences, it’s unclear if she ever saw the man himself at the time.
The businesswoman’s broader point is that the misconduct that Diddy is accused of and that others like R. Kelly have been convicted of, is part of a larger problem within the music industry of gatekeepers, usually men, using their power to abuse music hopefuls, who are usually women.
She is hopeful that this is changing. Ty Stiklorius points out that the music industry’s growth has slowed in 2024, and that a need for change from a business perspective is an opportunity to shift power away from the people she calls gatekeepers. She specifically calls out the success of Chappell Roan, who only became mainstream after stepping away from the traditional studio model.
To Ty Stiklorius' point, she mentions another time, unrelated to Diddy, when a music executive passed her a key to his hotel room, an invitation she declined. But knowing it happened to her, she knows it happened to others as well. She hopes that we may be at a point where these people will lose power. She continued…
How many other women had early experiences similar to mine and abandoned their ambition to be artists — let alone recording engineers, producers or executives? How many women were coerced, abused, assaulted and silenced on their way to their dreams — trapped by men who controlled access and who made us believe that the key to the kingdom was a key card to their hotel room?
Ty Stiklorius says she nearly left the industry, and the only thing that stopped her was the early success of her friend, John Legend. She became his manager and was able to grow that into a successful organization.
As far as Diddy goes, he’s currently set to stand trial in May on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
