The long-running lawsuit accusing Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler of sexually abusing a minor in the 1970s has been set for a new trial date, according to Rolling Stone. The case will now go before its fifth judge, who has signaled he may reconsider earlier rulings in the matter.
The trial is scheduled for May 3. At a hearing in downtown Los Angeles, the new judge said he was prepared to review decisions made by his predecessor, Judge Patricia Young, who stepped aside in September just before a prior trial date was set to begin.
Judge Young voluntarily recused herself after she revealed that she had discussed the case with another judge who had previously been disqualified from it. This disclosure prompted the search for a new judge to oversee the proceedings.
The new judge, Lawrence Riff, explained his approach at the hearing. “Both parties here are entitled to have the peace of mind at the end of the case that everything was on the up and up and proper, and that there’s no lingering shadow of doubt of possible impropriety,” Riff said. He noted that he would review earlier rulings based on arguments already submitted to the court, without allowing either side to file new ones.
Riff said he would be willing to toss out and reconsider any of Young’s rulings “from the beginning of her assignment” if either side requested it.
The case comes days after Steven Tyler returned to perform live with Aerosmith following the band’s recent comeback.
The lawsuit was brought by Julia Misley, who filed it in December 2022 under a 2019 California law that gave adult victims of childhood sexual assault a three-year window to file lawsuits for decades-old instances of abuse. According to the lawsuit, Misley first met Tyler in 1973 after Tyler performed a concert in Portland, Oregon, and alleges that Tyler took her to his hotel room and engaged in what the lawsuit describes as criminal sexual conduct that night. She left Tyler in 1977.
A Los Angeles County judge previously ruled that the claims arising from alleged abuse in California were sufficiently supported to proceed, while dismissing related claims tied to alleged conduct in Oregon, Washington, and Massachusetts. The judge noted that much of the lawsuit was barred by the statute of limitations in Massachusetts, where Misley and Tyler lived during their relationship, but because such limits do not apply due to a special rule in California, she was able to sue over an alleged sexual encounter during a brief trip to the state.
A second woman, Jeanne Bellino, later came forward with allegations against Tyler, filing a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court that alleged Tyler used his power, influence, and authority as a well-known musician to sexually assault her when she was a teenager decades ago. Bellino’s lawsuit was filed nearly a year after Misley sued Tyler.
Aerosmith announced a farewell tour in 2023 that was scheduled to run for 40 dates, starting on September 2 in Philadelphia and ending on January 26, 2024 in Montreal. The band postponed the tour after Tyler sustained a vocal cord injury in September 2023. On August 2, 2024, Aerosmith announced they would cease touring effective immediately, cancelling the remainder of the tour. Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry reunited at Janie’s Fund events and performed together at the 2025 MTV VMAs, after which Aerosmith and Yungblud released a five-song EP titled One More Time.
