Steven Tyler Faces Trial: Aerosmith Frontman in Spotlight Over Serious Allegations

A portion of a sexual assault lawsuit against Aerosmith’s frontman, Steven Tyler, is set to proceed to trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court, with an anticipated start date in August.

The 78-year-old rock legend has previously denied allegations that he groomed and sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl in the 1970s. The woman, who has publicly identified herself as Julia Misley, claims misconduct during that period.

While the judge has dismissed most allegations related to the three-year relationship across various states, the case will focus on a single incident alleged to have occurred in 1974 in a hot tub at a California hotel. This decision was detailed in a court order reviewed by the Daily Mail.

“This is a tremendous win for Steven Tyler,” stated Tyler’s attorney, David Long-Daniels, in a comment to the Daily Mail. “The court has dismissed with prejudice 99.9% of the claims against Mr. Tyler in this case.”

“The court has permitted only one incident from over 50 years ago, out of a three-year relationship, to remain,” Long-Daniels continued. “We are eager to present our case at trial on August 31.”

A judge on April 28 had previously noted Massachusetts’ statute of limitations in dismissing a significant chunk of the case, as that was where the rock singer resided with Misley (who was then known as Julia Holcomb) in the three-year timeframe they were linked. 

A fraction of a sexual assault case brought against Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler is slated to move forward to trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court, with a tentative August start date. Pictured in LA in 2024 

The relationship moving out of Massachusetts into other states, as Tyler toured the nation with Aerosmith, allowed for a part of the case to remain under California’s Child Victims Act.

Misley said in her initial 2022 court filing in Southern California that the Janie’s Got a Gun singer ‘used his role, status, and power as a well-known musician and rock star’ to take advantage of her sexually, according to legal documents reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. 

In the civil legal filing, Misley originally accused the Dream On singer of sexual assault and battery, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress, linked back to when she was a teenager in the 1970s.

Misley filed the lawsuit days ahead of a December 31, 2022 deadline to fall under the umbrella of California’s Child Victims Act. 

The legislation paused the statute of limitations for people to report sexual abuse crimes committed against them when they were underage.

Misley said in her legal complaint that she and Tyler initially crossed paths at a 1973 Aerosmith concert, when he was around 25-years-old and she was 16.

Sources close to Tyler told the Daily Mail that Misley’s ‘memory of what happened on that single night 50-plus years ago is demonstrably inaccurate.’

They added, ‘The remaining allegation relates to one night in California, and we look forward to trying that one issue.’

The Jaded singer was pictured performing in Philadelphia in September of 2023 

The Massachusetts native pictured in the UK in 1978

The Love in an Elevator artist was pictured at a March 31 event in LA 

The following year, Tyler was granted guardianship of her, and she began traveling with him, Misley said in her court filing.

Misley said in a previous complaint that after Tyler persuaded her mother to grant him a guardianship of her at the age of 16, she was ‘powerless to resist’ the singer, who had ‘power, fame and substantial financial ability.’

Sources close to Tyler pushed back on that notion to the Daily Mail, saying that ‘it’s been widely established that Steven … had a consenting, loving relationship for many years’ with Misley. 

Tyler said in his 2011 book Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? that he nearly ‘took a teen bride’ in his past, according to the court filing. 

The rock staple said in the memoir, ‘She was 16, she knew how to nasty … with my bad self being twenty-six and she barely old enough to drive and sexy as hell, I just fell madly in love with her.’   

He wrote 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.’

Misley said in her initial legal filing that she became pregnant by Tyler in 1975, and that he persuaded her to have an abortion based on faulty information in regards to the potential health of the unborn child. 

Following the abortion, Misley said she moved back home, wed and embraced religion. 

Misley’s lawyer Jeff Anderson told The Los Angeles Times that the looming trial ‘reflects years of resilience and courage by Ms. Misley, driven by an unwavering pursuit of truth and justice,’ adding, ‘It is time for justice and for Tyler to be held accountable by a jury.’