A new lawsuit accuses Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler of sexually abusing an underage girl and later coercing her into aborting their unborn baby at the height of his musical career.
News of the lawsuit broke about a month ago, but new details show the 74-year-old rock star now is formally named in the case, according to Entertainment Weekly. Julia Misley, formerly Julia Holcomb, filed the lawsuit in December after the California Legislature lifted the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse allegations.
In the lawsuit, Misley said Tyler began sexually abusing her in the early 1970s when she was 16 years old. She said he coerced her into aborting their unborn baby and, years later, caused her to suffer “involuntary infamy” when he wrote about her in his memoir, according to the report.
According to the case, Tyler met Misley at an Aerosmith concert in Portland, Oregon in 1973; he was 25, and she had just turned 16. After the concert, he allegedly took her back to his hotel room and performed “various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon her” even though he knew her age, she said.
Later, Tyler convinced her mother to sign over legal guardianship with the promise of providing her with medical care and schooling, the lawsuit continues. However, he “did not meaningfully follow through on these promises and instead continued to travel with, assault and provide alcohol and drugs to Plaintiff,” the lawsuit states.
Speaking about the relationship in 2011, Misley said she did not have a good home life growing up, and, with Tyler, she quickly “became lost in a rock and roll culture” full of sex and drugs, Birmingham Live reports. She said she lived and traveled with him until after she became pregnant and he pressured her into aborting their unborn baby at five months of pregnancy.
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“I didn’t know it yet, but I would barely make it out alive,” she said at the time. “I could not believe he was even asking me to have an abortion at this stage. He spent over an hour pressing me to go ahead and have the abortion. He said that I was too young to have a baby and it would have brain damage because I had been in [an apartment] fire and taken drugs.”
Misley said she gave into the pressure and aborted their unborn son; eventually, she left Tyler and began to clean up her life.
According to EuroNews, Misley did not talk about those years publicly until after Tyler wrote about her in his and Aerosmith’s memoirs. In one book, he admitted to almost taking “a teen bride” but 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.”
One refers to the girl as “Diana,” but his personal memoir mentions the name Julia Halcomb, likely a misspelling of her maiden name, in the acknowledgments, Rolling Stone reports.
In the lawsuit, Misley said Tyler portrayed their relationship as “romantic” and “loving,” and, in mentioning intimate details about her life, “imposed involuntary infamy” on her.
Several years ago, Misley shared her story with the pro-life movement to help people understand the pain and regret of aborting an unborn baby.
“It was a horrible nightmare I will never forget. I was traumatized by the experience,” she shared in 2011. “My baby had one defender in life; me, and I caved in to pressure because of fear of rejection and the unknown future. I wish I could go back and be given that chance again, to say no to the abortion one last time. I wish with all my heart I could have watched that baby live his life and grow to be a man.”
Years later, Misley said she found forgiveness and healing in Christ and became a Catholic.
In a statement about the lawsuit, her attorney Jeff Anderson said they hope the case will hold the entertainment industry accountable for allowing such abuses.
“This industry, and these defendants have permitted, protected and profited from severe violence for decades. It’s time to face the music,” Anderson said. “It’s time for reckoning… Now, adult survivors of sexual abuse can act under the [California Child Victims Act], giving voice and power to adult victims of assault.”
