Steven Tyler, Aerosmith’s Lead Singer, Sued For Allegedly Sexually Assaulting A Minor In The 70s

A woman has filed a lawsuit alleging sexual assault, coercion of an abortion and involuntary infamy against Steven Tyler, best known as the lead singer of Boston-based rock band Aerosmith.

The alleged abuse took place in the 1970s, when the plaintiff, Julia Misley, formally known as Julia Holcomb, was a minor and Tyler was in his mid-twenties. The lawsuit was initially filed in December 2022 but was amended on Tuesday to include the singer’s name as Defendant Doe 1, leaving Does 2-50 unidentified.

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According to the lawsuit, Misley first met the defendant in 1973, when Aerosmith was performing in Portland, Oregon. The suit alleges that Tyler, who was 25 at the time, took the just-turned-16-year-old plaintiff to his hotel room and “performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct” on her. He is then said to have purchased a plane ticket for Misley to accompany him for the band’s next show in Seattle, where the plaintiff alleges that she was further abused.

The suit goes on to allege that the singer, using false promises of a better life, convinced the plaintiff’s mother to “sign over the guardianship of her daughter to him” in 1974. The suit also alleges that the defendant failed to follow his promises and that he “instead continued to travel with, assault and provide alcohol and drugs to plaintiff.”

Interestingly, Tyler has publicly spoken of his relationship with Misley in the past and has been directly quoted in the suit. The lawsuit highlights that Tyler has previously monetized and “intentionally publicized the acts he perpetrated” against to plaintiff in multiple published books including his 2011 memoir Does the Nose in My Head Bother You? where he described being so in love that he almost married a teenager.

While the girl mentioned was never named, Tyler wrote: “I went and slept at her parents’ house for a couple of nights and her parents fell in love with me, signed papers over for me to have custody, so I wouldn’t get arrested if I took her out of state. I took her on tour with me.”

Misley also alleges that she became pregnant in 1975 but was coerced by Tyler to have an abortion. As detailed in the suit, the defendant “pressured and coerced Plaintiff to have an abortion by threatening that he would send her back to her family and cease to support and love her,” which led to Misley relenting and having the abortion performed.

“The complaint that has been prepared by my legal team recites in legal terms the trajectory of my life from early struggles to exploitation by Steven Tyler, the music industry, my escape from that world, my recovery and transformation, my restoration of spirit through faith, the building of a family and the rebuilding of my life,” the plaintiff said in a statement.

Misley goes on to state that the soon-to-close “lookback window” of the California Child Victims Act, which permits adults to take legal action against their childhood sexual abuser despite the statute of limitations, is what encouraged her to file her suit against Tyler:

“I want this action to expose an industry that protects celebrity offenders, to cleanse and hold accountable an industry that both exploited and allowed me to be exploited for years, along with so many other naive and vulnerable kids and adults.”

“I am grateful for this new opportunity to take action and be heard,” Misley added.

Tyler is yet to make a comment on the lawsuit.