John Legend’s longtime manager, Ty Stiklorius, recalled a disturbing encounter at one of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ parties in St. Barts, nearly three decades ago.
At the gathering, Stiklorius, now 49, shared in an opinion piece for The New York Times that she was led into a bedroom by an unidentified man, a moment she found deeply unsettling.
“To this day, I can’t remember how I managed to talk my way out of that terrifying situation,” she wrote, adding that her quick thinking—claiming her brother was “on this boat” and likely searching for her—may have saved her that night.
At the time, Stiklorius initially dismissed the experience as “just one guy behaving badly at a drunken party.”
However, as her career in the music business progressed, she began to recognize a recurring trend throughout the industry: a culture where sexual misconduct was not only present but, in her view, allowed to thrive.
Reflecting on a second encounter a few years later, she recalled receiving what she described as an “unsubtle invitation” to a senior executive’s hotel room, deepening her concerns about the pervasive issues in the entertainment world.
Since 2005, Stiklorius has managed John Legend, crediting the Grammy-winning artist with renewing her faith in the profession and offering her an opportunity to navigate the industry in a way that aligns with her values.
“It turns out that many artists, including John, want to be a part of a different model of business and culture,” she expressed in the op-ed.
These revelations come as troubling allegations swirl around Combs, who is currently being held in connection with charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.