Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, 74 Sued for Sexual Assault

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, 74, is being sued by a woman in California who states he sexually abused her when she was 16 in the 1970s for more than three years. Tyler faces a sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress lawsuit.

Julia Misley’s lawsuit was filed on Tuesday under a 2019 California law that gave adult victims of childhood sexual assault a three-year window to file lawsuits for decades-old assaults. The deadline for filing such claims is Saturday.

Misley, formerly Julia Holcomb, 65, said in a statement that she wanted to take advantage of “a new opportunity to take legal action against those who abused me in my youth.” Unless victims publicly identify themselves, the Associated Press does not name them.

While Tyler is not named in the lawsuit, Misley identified him in a statement issued through the law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates. Tyler discussed a relationship with a teenage girl in two books, published in 2011 and 1997, and she has previously recounted her experiences with Tyler.

Misley thanks a “Julia Halcomb” in the acknowledgments section of his memoir “Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?” Misley has said this is a reference to her.

Steven Tyler Remains Silent

Tyler’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment on Friday. Rolling Stone first reported the lawsuit.

Tyler allegedly “used his role, status, and power as a well-known musician and rock star to gain access to, groom, manipulate, exploit, and sexually assault” Misley over three years, according to the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, some abuse occurred in Los Angeles County. As a result, according to the lawsuit, she has suffered severe emotional harm and economic losses.

Misley met Tyler in 1973 at one of his shows in Portland, Oregon, and was later invited to Tyler’s hotel room, where she claimed she told him she was 16 years old, according to the lawsuit. Tyler would have been about 25 or 26 years old at the time. According to the complaint, he engaged in “various acts of criminal sexual conduct” against Misley.

According to the lawsuit, he engaged in sexual acts with her after multiple other shows, and in 1974 he became her legal guardian so that she could travel to him with shows.

According to the lawsuit, Misley became pregnant in 1975 due to sex with Tyler, and he coerced her into having an abortion.

Almost took a “Teen Bride.”

According to the lawsuit, Steven Tyler harmed Misley further by publishing memoirs that detailed aspects of their relationship without her knowledge or consent. According to the lawsuit, doing so exposed Misley to public attention and scrutiny, retraumatizing her and making it more difficult for her to recover.

Tyler mentions meeting an unnamed 16-year-old “girlfriend to be” in his 2011 memoir. He wrote that he almost “took a teen bride” and convinced her parents to sign over custody so he wouldn’t be arrested when she joined him on tour out of state.

“By including Plaintiff’s name in the acknowledgments, he left the readers and the public in no doubt of Plaintiff’s identity,” the lawsuit claims, adding that after the book’s publication, she was confronted with a picture of her face on a tabloid cover at a grocery store.

Tyler’s relationship with a teenage girl is also mentioned by several people in “Walk This Way,” Aerosmith’s 1997 “autobiography” in the form of oral history. The teen is given the pen name “Diana Hall” and is described as pregnant at one point. Tyler expressed interest in marrying her, mentioned abortions, and described the situation as “tricky all around.”

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of monetary compensation.

Source: Rolling Stone, AP, VOR News