- A woman alleges Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler sexually assaulted her when she was a minor in the 1970s.
- Julie Holcomb said she was 16 when she met Tyler, and he “performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon” her.
- She alleged Tyler obtained legal guardianship over her, allowing the two to live together.
A woman has sued Steven Tyler in Los Angeles, accusing the Aerosmith singer of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor in the 1970s, according to Rolling Stone, which obtained the court documents.
The accuser, Julie Holcomb, did not explicitly name Tyler in her lawsuit, and only referred to the defendants as Defendant Doe 1 and Does 2 through 50, according to the magazine. But Rolling Stone reported that the documents contained details that obviously referred to Tyler — including direct quotes from Tyler’s 1997 memoir.
Holcomb reportedly said in her lawsuit that she met Tyler shortly after she turned 16, when she attended an Aerosmith concert in Portland, Oregon. Holcomb said she went back to Tyler’s hotel room with him, where the singer “performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon” her, all while being aware of her age.
Holcomb’s lawsuit also said Tyler was then granted guardianship over her — a move that she said allowed her to live with Tyler and travel with him across state lines. Holcomb’s lawsuit alleged that Tyler committed sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress during this time.
Holcomb’s lawsuit alleges she became pregnant with Tyler’s child at age 17, but felt pressured by Tyler to get an abortion, though she didn’t want one. She said Tyler threatened to withdraw financial support, and persuaded her that smoke inhalation from an apartment fire had harmed the baby.
Holcomb has previously spoken and written publicly about her allegations against Tyler. In a 2011 essay, Holcomb described the pressure she felt from Tyler to terminate her five-month pregnancy.
“He said I had to have the abortion now. He said I was too far along to wait because it would be illegal for me to get an abortion in another week,” Holcomb wrote. “His guardianship of me complicated things further. I was subordinate to him as in a parent relationship and felt I had little control over my life.”
Rolling Stone reported that Tyler’s own memoir contains similar details to those in Holcomb’s lawsuit. Tyler’s memoir reportedly states that Tyler “almost took a teen bride,” and that “her parents fell in love with me, signed a paper over for me to have custody, so I wouldn’t get arrested if I took her out of state.” The memoir reportedly also describes the apartment fire and abortion, though he said the girl he was with was named Diana and was 14 when they met.
A representative for Tyler did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
