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Steven Tyler Responds To Lawsuit Alleging Sexual Assault By Woman Who Says She Was 16 At The Time, Singer Claims Consent & Immunity Since He Was Her Legal Guardian

Tom Tapp
·3 min read

Steven Tyler is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit filed in December by a woman who alleges the Aerosmith frontman had an illicit relationship with her when she was 16 years old and he was 25, saying her claims are barred in whole or in part by consent on her part.

In a seven-page answer to the plaintiff’s allegations filed Tuesday, Tyler’s attorneys state that the plaintiff has not “sustained any injury or loss by reason of any act or omission on the part of (Tyler)” and that the plaintiff is not entitled to any damages from the 75-year-old musician.

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“Plaintiff’s claims are barred in whole or in part because (Tyler’s) actions were legitimate, good-faith, justified, nondiscriminatory and/or non-retaliatory,” according to Tyler’s attorneys’ court papers, which further allege that the plaintiff’s claim for punitive damages violates his right to due process.

Tyler’s filing also contends that the plaintiff’s claims are fully or partially barred by alleged consent on her part and that he had at least qualified immunity as her onetime guardian.

In her suit filed Dec. 27, the plaintiff Julia Holcomb alleges that Tyler convinced her mother to grant him guardianship over her when she was 16 years old, allowing her to live with him and engage in a sexual relationship. She alleges they were together for about three years beginning in 1973.

The plaintiff became pregnant in 1975, causing Tyler to be simultaneously both the father of the plaintiff’s unborn child and her legal guardian, according to the suit, which further states that the Catholic plaintiff later relented under Tyler’s pressure and had an abortion.

The plaintiff subsequently “made a conscious decision to leave and escape the music and drug-addled world seeking to be free from the sexualized culture created by Tyler and the industry,” according to her suit, which additionally states that she went on to have a family and become active in her faith.

But the plaintiff maintains her life was “shattered” when Tyler released memoirs characterizing his alleged abuses of her as “a romantic, loving relationship” without her knowledge or consent in order to obtain fame and financial benefit for himself and his managers, agents and publishers.

A case management conference in the lawsuit is scheduled July 24.

PREVIOUSLY in December: A woman who says she had a sexual relationship with Steven Tyler in 1973 when she was 16 has filed a lawsuit against the Aerosmith frontman, Rolling Stone reports. The suit, filed under the California Child Victims Act, accuses Tyler of sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Under the act, the statute of limitations was temporarily lifted for survivors of childhood abuse.

Tyler is not named in the lawsuit, but plaintiff Julia Holcomb has spoken publicly about what she said were her experiences with Tyler, who was then about 25, which she says lasted for three years. Tyler, for his part, writes in his memoir that he “almost took a teen bride” whose 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.”

Holcomb maintains that Tyler plied her with drugs and alcohol, had sex with her and, yes, took her on tour with him. She became pregnant with his child at 17 and the singer convinced her to have an abortion.

Interestingly, Holcomb’s lawsuit refers to John Does numbering 1 through 50, so there may be more shoes to drop if the lawsuit progresses.

Aerosmith canceled eight shows of its Las Vegas residency in May because Tyler needed to return to rehab. Earlier this month, the band canceled the final two dates of the residency due to an undisclosed illness Tyler suffered.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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