Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has made a new legal move against his abuse accuser, according to TMZ. Tyler’s legal team filed new court documents seeking additional depositions from Julia Holcomb — now known as Julia Misley — who claims Tyler sexually abused her after they began a relationship when she was 16 years old.
The filing comes after Tyler’s team says they recently discovered new information about Holcomb’s personal life. They argue the information could be relevant to her emotional distress claims against him.
“According to new court filings obtained by TMZ, Steven Tyler’s legal team says Julia Holcomb, who claims the Aerosmith rocker sexually abused her after they began a relationship when she was 16 years old, recently revealed a separate issue in her life that led her and her husband to seek marriage counseling,” TMZ reported.
The outlet further detailed the basis for Tyler’s request for new depositions before the case goes to trial.
“Tyler says he only learned about it earlier this year, when Julia, now known as Julia Misley, also disclosed she’d recently started seeing a therapist. Now, Tyler wants to question both her and her husband again before trial. His lawyers argue the new information could be relevant because Julia has claimed she suffered emotional distress for decades as a result of her relationship with Tyler,” TMZ continued. “They say the couple previously testified their counseling stemmed from issues tied to Tyler and public accounts of the relationship in books about Aerosmith.”
The trial has yet to begin, and it remains to be seen whether the court will grant Tyler’s request for the additional depositions.
The latest legal maneuver adds another layer to a case that has been years in the making. It is rooted in allegations that stretch back to the early 1970s when Holcomb was a teenager and Tyler was already a rising rock star.
Rolling Stone reported that Julia Holcomb filed the lawsuit against Tyler in 2023 under the California Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act. The law temporarily opened a window for survivors to bring forward older claims that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations. Holcomb alleged that Tyler sexually abused her on multiple occasions during their relationship, which began when she was 16 and he was 25.
People noted that Holcomb has stated Tyler persuaded her parents to grant him legal guardianship over her so that she could travel with him on tour. That claim has been a central element of her lawsuit. She has said the relationship caused her lasting psychological harm that she has carried for decades.
Tyler has denied the allegations. As Billboard reported, his legal team has maintained that the relationship was consensual and that the lawsuit is without merit. They have also challenged the legal framework under which the case was filed. Tyler’s attorneys have been aggressive in their pre-trial strategy, and the latest push for additional depositions reflects their continued effort to undermine Holcomb’s credibility and the scope of her emotional distress claims before the matter reaches a jury.
