If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please get in touch with the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
Steven Tyler is denying allegations put forth in a recent lawsuit. As The Shade Room previously reported, the suit accuses him of sexually assaulting a minor back in the 1970s.
RELATED: Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Minor In Mid-1970s, New Lawsuit Alleges
Last week, the Aerosmith frontman, 75, responded to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Tyler gave a lengthy set of defenses against the claims made against him by Julia Misley.
Additionally, Misley’s attorney claims the rocker is “gaslighting” her.
Aerosmith Frontman Claims Then-Minor Consented To A Sexual Relationship With Him
Tyler states that Misley, formerly Julia Holcomb, consented to a sexual relationship with him, adding that he had immunity as her legal guardian at the time of the alleged incidents.
He went on to request that the lawsuit be dismissed entirely, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
Tyler’s response to Misley’s lawsuit includes 24 affirmative defenses denying all her accusations against him. One alleges that Misley “has not suffered any injury or damage as a result of any action by Defendant.” Furthermore, “if it is determined that Plaintiff has been damaged, then any such damages were not caused by Defendant.”
Is it just me or is it weird so many people are okay that a 25-year-old Steven Tyler became the legal guardian of a 16-year-old child so he could take her on tour to have Sex with him? Why isn’t he cancelled? pic.twitter.com/c6zkXqRUmi
— @amuse (@amuse) April 6, 2023
Misley, who was in a sexual relationship with Tyler in the 1970s when she was just a teenager, filed the lawsuit three months ago against Tyler for sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
She managed to file the lawsuit days before the Dec. 31 deadline for California’s Child Victims Act, which removed the statute of limitations on reporting childhood sexual abuse crimes.
Tyler Previously Revealed He Convinced The Girl’s Mother To Grant Him Guardianship
PEOPLE has reportedly obtained a copy of the complaint. While the document doesn’t identify Tyler by name, the accusations do line up with comments the musician made public in his 2011 memoir Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?
In the memoir, Tyler discusses his relationship with an unnamed 16-year-old girl. Misley later directly named Tyler in a statement released following the complaint filing.
Misley “directly quotes” Tyler’s memoir in the complaint and claims that he convinced her mother to grant him guardianship over her back when she was just 16 years old.
Steven Tyler, 1976. Photo by Fin Costello. pic.twitter.com/hNFwBlnPpZ
— Classic Rock In Pics (@crockpics) April 6, 2023
In doing so, Tyler was able to have a sexual relationship with her, something she was “powerless to resist,” as Tyler had “power, fame, and substantial financial ability.”
Tyler characterized the situation differently, claiming in his memoir that he “almost took a teen bride” because “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.”
Alleged Victim’s Lawyer Says Tyler Is “Gaslighting” Misley, Who Got Pregnant With His Child In 1975
Misley became pregnant in 1975 and claimed Tyler convinced her to get an abortion. After the procedure, she eventually left Tyler and returned home to Portland. Misley went on to get married and became a devout Catholic.
Misley’s attorney Jeff Anderson called Tyler’s response “gaslighting” and said the rockstar used “a sham legal guardianship to avoid prosecution for sex crimes.”
A representative for Tyler did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.