Aerosmith Frontman Steven Tyler Named in Child Sex Abuse Lawsuit

By Andrew Roberts

After Aerosmith had to cancel its final Las Vegas residency dates in 2022, frontman Steven Tyler noted it was doctor's orders and he was forced to stay off the stage. Now, according to Entertainment Weekly, Tyler's 2023 is starting with more bad news.

As ET notes, Tyler has been named in a child sexual abuse lawsuit filed by a woman who claims Tyler used his rock star status in 1973 to "groom, manipulate, exploit [and] sexual assault." Julia Misley claims she was only 16 years old when Tyler appeared in her orbit and pursued her. As ET reports from legal documents filed by Misley, Tyler would do this by "frequently telephoning her at home, making various statements to induce her to visit him again, including, but not limited, to telling her that he wrote a song for her that he recorded with his band, and that he wished she could in the recording studio withhim so he could sing it to her."

Tyler's representatives did not respond to the allegations with ET. The lawsuit goes on to say Tyler and "his agents took actions to become Julia's guardian so that he could more easily travel" with her and avoid prosecution. She also claims Tyler met with her mother to convince her to sign over the guardianship, including promises to enroll her in school and give her medical care.

The lawsuit also alleges that Tyler first met Misley after inviting her backstage in 1973. Misley's lawsuit alleges that Tyler's representatives later had her taken to a hotel room where she informed Tyler of her age. "Tyler inquired where [Julia's] parents were and why she was out all night by herself," the lawsuit says, according to ET. "[Julia] informed [Tyler] of struggles she was facing at home. [Tyler] performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon [Julia] that night."

Misley claims Tyler also committed acts at a later concert in Seattle. She also claims to have kept her alleged story private and in "silence and secrecy," until Tyler released his memoirs.

"She was 16, she knew how to nasty ... with my bad self being twenty-six and she barely old enough to drive and sexy as hell, I just fell madly in love with her ... She was my heart's desire, my partner in crime of passions ... I was so in love I almost took a teen bride," he wrote. "I went and slept at her parent's house for a couple of nights and her parents's [sic] fell in love with me, signed paper 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."

Rolling Stone adds that Misley, formerly known as Julia Holcomb, was mentioned in a 1976 Rolling Stone profile of Aerosmith and Tyler's private life. Misley filed the case on Dec. 27 with the Los Angeles Superior Court. Tyler was added through new documents on Feb. 1.

0comments
Start the Conversation

of