Steven Tyler has been sued by a woman who claims they had a sexual relationship in 1973, when she was 16 years old.
The Aerosmith frontman is accused of sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, Rolling Stone reports. The lawsuit also alleges that he forced her to have an abortion.
The lawsuit has been filed under the California Child Victims Act, under which the statute of limitations is temporarily lifted for survivors of childhood abuse.
While Tyler, 74, is not named in the lawsuit, the plaintiff Julia Holcomb has spoken publicly about her alleged experiences with the musician who was around 25 at the time. She says their relationship lasted for three years.
The lawsuit quotes from Tyler’s 1997 memoir, in which he writes that he “almost took a teenage bride” and that her parents “signed a 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”.
Holcomb claims that Tyler plied her with drugs and alcohol. She alleges that when she became pregnant ith his child at 17, the singer convinced her to have an abortion.
The complaint also alleges that Tyler “coerced and persuaded [Holcomb] into believing this was a ‘romantic love affair’”.
She claims that after meeting Tyler in 1973 at an Aerosmith concert, the musician “performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon” her at a hotel.
In his memoir, Tyler did not name Holcomb but wrote of an unnamed teenage girl: “She was sixteen, she knew how to nasty, and there wasn’t a hair on it.”
He said: “With my bad self being 26 and she barely old enough to drive and sexy as hell, I just fell madly in love with her.
“She was a cute skinny little tomboy dressed up as Little Bo Peep. She was my heart’s desire, my partner in crimes of passion.”
Holcomb claims that she did not consent to being mentioned in the acknowledgements of Tyler’s memoir, which instead names a “Julia Halcomb”, one letter off from her name.
Holcomb has previously spoken about the alleged experience in a 2011 essay.
“I became lost in a rock and roll culture. In Steven’s world it was sex, drugs, and rock and roll, but it seemed no less chaotic than the world I left behind. I didn’t know it yet, but I would barely make it out alive,” she said.
The Independent has contacted a representative of Tyler for comment.
If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support. For more information, visit their website here.
Steven Tyler performs at the Grammys
