John Legend’s longtime manager, Ty Stiklorius, is sharing a personal account from one of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ infamous parties.
Stiklorius, 49, penned a piece titled “The Music Industry Is Toxic. After P. Diddy, We Can Clean It Up” for The New York Times published on Thursday, October 31. In the article, the music executive opened up about her alleged experience at one of Combs’ New Year’s Eve yacht parties in St. Barts, nearly three decades ago.
“I was a recent college graduate and it was hard not to be overwhelmed by the slew of boldface names onboard. But the sheen of the situation wore off quickly. I thought,” she wrote. “I was being shown to the disco room when I was directed into a bedroom by a man who seemed to be an associate of the party’s host, Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs.”
Stiklorius clarified she did not know the unnamed man and was unsure if he was connected to Diddy.
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“To this day, I can’t remember how I managed to talk my way out of that terrifying situation,” she penned. “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.”
Stiklorius didn’t think much of the situation at the time, thinking it was “just one guy behaving badly at a drunken party.” However, Stiklorius now knows that events like these have most likely happened to other women in the industry.
“How many other women had early experiences similar to mine and abandoned their ambition to be artists — let alone recording engineers, producers or executives?” she questioned. “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?”
Us Weekly has reached out to Diddy for comment.
While Stiklorius did not have a direct run-in with Diddy, more than 100 people have come forward with stories about alleged abuse at the hands of the music mogul or his inner circle.
Many of the accusations — which include rape and sexual assault — came to light following Diddy’s arrest on September 6. The rapper was charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution. Diddy currently remains in jail, as he was denied bail three times, as he awaits trial. Since his arrest, Diddy has maintained his innocence and denied the allegations.
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“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo told Us in a statement. “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children and working to uplift the Black community.”
Agnifilo added, “He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal. To his credit, Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).