MICHEL MARTIN, BYLINE: Jury selection in the trial of music mogul Sean Combs, also known as P. Diddy, began this week. He's pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy. Prosecutors allege that Combs' famous parties often devolved into group sex parties, where some guests were coerced into taking drugs and sexually assaulted. But while the accusations against Combs are particularly sensational and disturbing, his arrest last year has sparked a lot of discussion about whether the alleged behavior is actually that unusual in the industry.
Ty Stiklorius has been part of that conversation. She's one of the top female executives in music. John Legend, for example, is one of the people she works with. And she's written about what she says needs to change, and she's with us now to tell us more about that. Thanks so much for joining us.
TY STIKLORIUS: Thank you, Michel. I'm happy to be here.
MARTIN: You actually wrote about your experience at a party thrown by Combs when you were just out of college. Now, I know this was a long time ago, and I know it's not easy to talk about, but would you just briefly say what happened?
STIKLORIUS: Yes. I was in my early 20s, and I went to a party thrown by Sean Combs. It was on a very large yacht. I had heard that there was a dance party down somewhere in the yacht. And this man, who was a colleague of Sean's, told me that he could take me there, and he led me into a bedroom and then locked the door behind me. And I just remember being terrified. But I want to be clear - that wasn't just one bad night. That was the culture.
MARTIN: First of all, I just want to let people know, as you report in your piece - and it was a guest essay in The New York Times - you were able to talk your way out of that...
STIKLORIUS: Yes.
MARTIN: ...Situation, so very glad of that. But you also wrote you 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. It's a pretty damning thing to say, that this isn't actually an isolated thing.
STIKLORIUS: Well, I mean, if you think about the tagline for music, for a long time, it's been, sex, drugs and rock and roll. This is a story and a case about how power has operated in the music industry. And I think we need to be careful not to isolate this to one man or one case because those of us who've worked in the business, sadly, don't find this all that surprising. It's about a system that for decades allowed certain men to operate with total impunity.
MARTIN: Why does this persist? I mean, is it because, in part, so much business is done in nontraditional places like, you know, meetings in hotel rooms and places like that? You know what I mean? Why? A lot of people who don't work in these fields just think, what's going on here?
STIKLORIUS: Well, you're right to talk about the casting couch. In the music business, that's the recording studio. Unfortunately, I think many of the people who controlled who was in those spaces used it as a way to exploit. I mean, when I was first trying to get a job in the music business, every interview, which ended up being some kind of dinner, was a key card in my hand at the end of the night. Like...
MARTIN: Wait a minute. Hold on. What do you mean, a key card? You mean somebody putting their hotel card in?
STIKLORIUS: Oh, yeah.
MARTIN: Basically implying you're supposed to go and have sex with them.
STIKLORIUS: Exactly. And after that happened three separate times, I actually gave up on the music business. I thought, this isn't where I want to be.
MARTIN: As I - I mentioned that - we started with talking about the essay that you wrote for The New York Times back in October, when Sean Combs was first arrested. You got a lot of comments. And...
STIKLORIUS: Yes.
MARTIN: ...A number of women wrote and said they gave up on the music industry because...
STIKLORIUS: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...They just could not take all of the harassment. I was curious how you felt when you saw that.
STIKLORIUS: Yes, I was surprised how many women who are actually still in the music business reached out to me and said, I've never told my story. I'm afraid if I do, I'll be fired. And these are women in positions of power. I think part of it is we have to talk about NDAs.
MARTIN: Nondisclosure agreements?
STIKLORIUS: Yes. I think they play a huge role. I know many men and women who've been threatened with the end of their careers if they spoke up. NDAs have been signed, and they're signing away their truth in exchange for basic rights like song ownership or fair pay. That silence wasn't consent. It was survival.
MARTIN: Do you think that record labels are really willing to let somebody go who's talented because they're abusive?
STIKLORIUS: I unfortunately have not seen proof of that. Yeah. I've reported abuses, and it's a very polite, thank you. And then they hung up the phone, and I see very few consequences come from it. You look at how long it took R. Kelly and P. Diddy to be held accountable. That's the part that bothers me, is that people have not stood up for something better. And I think we need to change that.
MARTIN: Ty Stiklorius is the CEO and founder of Friends At Work - that's a management firm - and she's one of the highest-ranking women in the music industry. Thanks so much for talking with us. Very sobering.
STIKLORIUS: Thank you, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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