Tyler responds to alleged sexual suit from December
Steven Tyler is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit filed in December accusing the Aerosmith frontman of sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress with a minor during the 1970s. Tyler’s attorneys filed a seven page response in Torrance Superior Court, claiming the plaintiff, Julia Holcomb, is not entitled to any damages because she did not “sustained any injury or loss by reason of any act or omission on the part of (Tyler).”
Tyler’s statement continues, “Plaintiff’s claims are barred in whole or in part because (Tyler’s) actions were legitimate, good-faith, justified, nondiscriminatory and/or non-retaliatory.” His filing further alleges that the plaintiff’s claim for punitive damages violates his right to due process and that plaintiffs claims are fully or partially barred by alleged consent. It also claims Tyler had qualified immunity as her onetime guardian, according to CBS News.
In her lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, Holcomb, who has been public about her experience with Tyler in the past, alleges that the rocker, who was 25 at the time, convinced Holcomb’s mother to grant him guardianship over her when she was 16, which allowed her to travel with him legally, and led to an illicit relationship with him.
Holcomb claims the pair’s relationship lasted for about three years starting in 1973. The suit doesn’t mention Tyler by name, instead referring to defendants as John Does 1-50. The suit directly quotes Tyler’s 2012 memoir, Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Memoir, in which he wrote “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. I took her on tour with me.”
In the suit, Holcomb alleges that Tyler supplied her with drugs and alcohol and had sexual relations with her. She also alleges that Tyler convinced her to get an abortion when she was 17.
She also claims her life was further disrupted by Tyler’s publication which referenced his time with Holcomb without her consent. The suit accuses Tyler of of “involuntary infamy” and framed the alleged abuse as a “romantic, loving relationship.”
Holcomb filed the suit as California’s Child Victims Act is set to expire on December 31, 2022. The legislation was signed in 2019 and extended the statue of limitations on childhood sexual abuse claims, allowing victims to file civil claims and prosecutors to bring criminal charges against the accused.
