Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler denies sexual assault allegations in the 1970s… as accuser’s attorney says Rockstar did ‘gaslighting’ in his defense
Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler has denied claims that he sexually assaulted a minor in the 1970s.
Tyler, 75, was named in a lawsuit in December by a woman who has publicly identified herself as Julia Misley.
The time of the lawsuit was days before a Dec. 31 deadline that fell under the umbrella of California’s Child Victims Act, which suspended the statute of limitations for people to report sex abuse crimes committed against them when they were children.
In the lawsuit, Misley accused the Dream On singer of sexual assault and assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress dating back to her teenage years in the 1970s.
The singer of hits like “Walk This Way,” “Janie’s Got a Gun,” and “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” said in legal documents filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court that his relationship with Misley (the once known as Julia Holcomb) was amicable, People reported after reviewing documents in the case.
The latest: Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, 75, has denied claims in a lawsuit that he sexually assaulted a minor in the 1970s. Pictured in LA last year
Tyler told the court that he was Misley’s legal guardian at the time, granting him immunity from related laws past and present.
The Massachusetts native moved that the court dismiss the case outright.
Misley’s attorneys said the rock singer “put pressure” on their client and the court with his defense.
Misley “did not suffer any injury or damage as a result of any action by the defendant,” Tyler’s attorneys said, “and if the plaintiff is found to have been harmed, then such damage was not caused by the defendant.”
The allegations made in the lawsuit are consistent with information Tyler provided in his 2011 book Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? in reference to a relationship he had with a 16-year-old girl, the outlet reported.
Misley did not directly name Tyler in the complaint, but did so in a later statement that she released.
Misley said that after Tyler persuaded her mother to grant him guardianship for her when she was 16, she was “powerless to oppose the singer,” who has “power, fame, and considerable financial opportunity.”
Tyler said in his memoir that she almost “took a teenage bride” in his past, adding that “her parents fell in love with me and signed a custody paper for me so I wouldn’t be arrested if I married her.” wouldn’t take in the country.’
Misley said she became pregnant by Tyler in 1975 and that he persuaded her to have an abortion due to incorrect information about the potential health of the unborn child.
The Jaded singer was pictured in LA during the 2020 Grammys
The Massachusetts native moved that the court dismiss the case outright. Pictured in LA last year
Misley said that after the abortion, she moved home, married, and embraced religion.
Her attorney, Jeff Anderson, said that Tyler’s responses were cases of “gaslighting” and that he “used feigned legal guardianship to avoid prosecution for sex crimes” in the 1970s.
Anderson said: “He inflicts further pain on Misley and gasses her by falsely claiming that she ‘consented’ and that the pain he inflicted on her was ‘justified and in good faith.’
“Never have we encountered a legal defense as offensive and potentially dangerous as that launched by Tyler and his attorneys this week: your claim that legal guardianship is consent and permission for sexual abuse.”