Steven Tyler Formally Named in Lawsuit Alleging Sexual Abuse of a Minor
UPDATE 02/03/2023 12:30 PM ET: Steven Tyler has been formally named in a lawsuit accusing the Aerosmith frontman of sexually abusing a minor in the 1970s.
Entertainment Weekly notes, “Tyler was previously identified as Defendant Doe 1, and the court provided legal approval to name him on Wednesday.”
Details of the lawsuit can be viewed below.
ORIGINAL STORY (Published 12/30/2022)
Steven Tyler is being sued in a California court over allegations he sexually assaulted a minor whom he had a years-long relationship with during the 1970s.
Per Rolling Stone, the plaintiff is a woman named Julia Holcomb. She alleges she and Tyler were in a three-year relationship that began in 1973 when she was 16. According to Holcomb’s timeline of their meeting, Tyler would’ve been 25. Holcomb says Tyler was able to convince her mother to make him her legal guardian which allowed him to live and travel with her on tour easier.
Additionally, Holcomb accuses Tyler in the lawsuit of convincing her to have an abortion at 17 in 1975. She claims Tyler said he would stop supporting her if she didn’t terminate the pregnancy. While pregnant, Holcomb escaped an apartment fire, and Tyler claimed the smoke she inhaled while escaping the fire harmed the baby, which was another reason to terminate the pregnancy. (Holcome’s lawsuit claims her unborn baby was fine following the fire according to a medical professional.)
Rolling Stone notes Holcolm’s accusations appear to line up with passages from the 1997 Aerosmith biography Walk This Way and Tyler’s 2011 memoir Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? Holcomb was also mentioned in a 1976 profile published by Rolling Stone in relation to being romantically involved with Tyler.
Rolling Stone also added, “Holcomb’s suit comes in the final days of California’s Child Victims Act, a 2019 piece of legislation that lifted the statute of limitations and granted a three-year lookback period for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to come forward with their allegations. The deadline to file a lawsuit is December 31, 2022.”
Tyler has yet to comment on the news of the lawsuit.
