LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman who previously said Steven Tyler had an illicit sexual relationship with her as a teenager is now suing the aerosmith leader for sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The lawsuit filed by Julia Misley was filed Tuesday under a 2019 California law that gave adult victims of child sexual assault a three-year window to file lawsuits for decades-old assault cases. Saturday is the deadline to file such claims.
Misley, 65, formerly known as Julia Holcomb, said in a statement that she wanted to take «a new opportunity to take legal action against those who abused me in my youth.» The Associated Press does not name sexual assault victims unless they publicly identify themselves.
While the lawsuit does not name Tyler, Misley did identify him by name in the statement, issued through the law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates. He has also recounted his experiences with Tyler in previous interviews, and Tyler discussed a relationship with a teenage girl in two books, published in 2011 and 1997. The acknowledgments section of his memoir «Does the noise in my head bother you?» thanks to «Julia Halcomb», which Misley has said is a reference to her.
Representatives for Tyler did not immediately return requests for comment Friday. Rolling Stone was the first to report on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that Tyler “used his role, status, and power as a well-known musician and rock star to access, groom, manipulate, exploit, and sexually assault” Misley over a period of three years. Some of the abuse occurred in Los Angeles County, according to the lawsuit. As a result, she has suffered serious emotional damage and financial loss, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says Misley met Tyler in 1973 at one of his shows in Portland, Oregon, and was later invited to Tyler’s hotel room, where she said he told her she was 16 years old. Tyler would have been 25 or 26 at the time. She says that she engaged in «various acts of criminal sexual conduct» against Misley.
He engaged in sexual acts with her after numerous other shows, and in 1974 became her legal guardian so she could travel to him with shows, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit alleges that Misley became pregnant in 1975 as a result of having sex with Tyler, and that he then forced her to have an abortion.
Tyler further harmed Misley by publishing memoirs detailing parts of their relationship without her knowledge or consent, the lawsuit alleges. Doing so subjected Misley to public attention and scrutiny, re-traumatizing her and making it difficult for her to recover, the lawsuit says.
In Tyler’s 2011 memoir, he mentions meeting an unnamed 16-year-old «bride-to-be». He wrote that he almost «married a teenager» and got his parents to sign custody so he wouldn’t get arrested when she went on tour with him out of state.
“By including Plaintiff’s name in the acknowledgments, she left readers and the public in no doubt as to Plaintiff’s identity,” the lawsuit states, adding that she was faced with a photo of her own face on the cover of a tabloid in a grocery store after the book was published.
Tyler’s relationship with a teenage girl is also referenced by multiple people in «Walk This Way,» a 1997 Aerosmith «autobiography» in oral history format. The teenager is given the pseudonym «Diana Hall» and, at one point, she is described as pregnant. Tyler said he was thinking of marrying her, referring to her miscarriages, calling it a «complicated situation.»
The lawsuit seeks monetary compensation of an unspecified amount.