A woman named Julia Holcomb Misley has filed a lawsuit against Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, alleging s**ual battery, s**ual assault, and intentional infliction of distress.
Misley, who was 16 at the time, claims to have had a three-year s**ual relationship with Tyler in the 1970s.
The lawsuit was possible due to a California state law that extended the statute of limitations for adults to take legal action on childhood s**ual abuse.
Misley’s goal is to make the music industry safer and expose predators within it.
Although the lawsuit does not directly name Tyler, referring to him as “Doe 1,” it quotes from Tyler’s 2011 memoir, where he describes his s**ual relationship with a 16-year-old girl he met after a show in 1973.
The complaint also mentions Tyler’s request for legal custody of the girl to avoid arrest if he took her out of state.
Misley’s lawyers have publicly named Tyler in relation to the case, but there has been no immediate response from the singer’s representatives.
According to the lawsuit, the rock star met Misley after a concert when she had just turned 16.
He took her to a hotel, where she informed him of her age and troubled family background.
The lawsuit alleges that Tyler engaged in criminal s**ual conduct before sending her home in a taxi.
He later offered her a ticket to another show, making arrangements for her to travel separately from him due to her being a minor.
Over the course of three years and across numerous states, including California, Tyler allegedly used his power and influence to groom, manipulate, exploit, and s**ually assault Misley.
The lawsuit claims that Tyler brought her to stay with him in Boston after her sophomore year in high school and convinced her to travel with him instead of returning home.
He even became her legal guardian, promising better support and education but instead continued to travel with her, providing alcohol and drugs.
When Misley became pregnant in 1975, Tyler was both the father of her unborn child and her legal guardian.
The lawsuit alleges that he discouraged her from seeking proper prenatal care out of fear of getting in trouble with doctors.
Later, after she experienced a traumatic event where she was trapped in a burning apartment and suffered from smoke inhalation, Tyler coerced her into getting an abortion, causing her years of distress.
Misley’s relationship with Tyler was previously documented, as she was named in a 1976 Rolling Stone profile of him.
They were photographed together, and Misley discussed her interactions with Tyler in a 2021 documentary that focused on the abuse of young women in the music industry during the 70s and 80s.
Tyler’s memoir also alludes to his relationship with a teenage “groupie” resembling Kate Hudson’s character in the film Almost Famous.
He described being deeply in love with her despite their significant age difference.
The lawsuit further accuses Tyler of causing additional emotional distress to Misley through the involuntary infamy of being portrayed in graphic terms in his memoir.
Seeing herself referred to as his “teen lover” in a tabloid and reading explicit details of her coerced abortion intensified her trauma, shame, humiliation, and fear.
Misley has since become an anti-abortion advocate, sharing her experience with Tyler in the context of campaigns to limit abortion rights.
She emphasizes the importance of her Catholic faith and acknowledges the improved safety within the Catholic Church due to efforts to address child s**ual abuse.
Misley filed her lawsuit just days before the end of a three-year window created by a 2019 California law.
This allowed adult survivors of childhood s**ual abuse to file lawsuits for incidents that occurred decades ago.
As a result, there has been a surge in lawsuits, including over 2,000 against the Catholic Church.
In conclusion, Misley’s lawsuit against Steven Tyler sheds light on allegations of s**ual battery and assault that occurred in the 1970s.
It highlights the importance of addressing abuse within the music industry and seeking justice for survivors of childhood s**ual abuse.
