Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler accused of sexually assaulting former teen model
Singer Steven Tyler
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has been accused of sexual assault by a woman. Jeanne Bellino has sued the famous singer in a New York court on Thursday (Nov 2).
Bellino, now 66, alleged that Tyler groped her in a New York City phone booth without her consent when she was 17 years old in 1975.
Bellino said in the complaint she met Tyler and his bandmates through a friend after traveling to the city for a fashion show. Bellino had just signed with a modeling agency at the time. Bellino, the friend, Tyler and other bandmates were walking together down 6th Avenue when the alleged groping began.
"As they walked, (Bellino) commented about a song lyric to Tyler," the complaint states. "Tyler became visibly irritated by (Bellino’s) question, then suddenly Tyler grabbed [Bellino] by the hand and forced her into a phone booth," the court document reveals.
"While holding her captive, Tyler stuck his tongue down her throat, and put his hands upon her body, her breasts, her buttocks, and her genitals, moving and removing clothing and pinning her against the wall of the phone booth," according to the complaint.
"As Tyler was mauling and groping (Bellino) he was humping her pretending to have sex with (Bellino.) Others stood by outside the phone booth laughing and as passersby watched and witnessed, nobody in the entourage intervened."
"Tyler's penis was erect and it was evident to her as he rubbed it against her that he was not wearing underwear and wearing thin pants," the complaint continues. "(Bellino) fought back and struggled to be free but Tyler restrained her."
This is not the first time that the singer has been accused of sexual harassment. He was previously sued by Julia Misley, who accused the singer-songwriter of sexual assault, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress for a an incident that took place in 1973. Misley was 16 back then.
The lawsuit also included direct quotes from Tyler's 2012 memoir, Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?in which he wrote that he "almost took a teen bride," though he did not name the teenager.
He also 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. I took her on tour with me."
In his response to Misley's lawsuit, Tyler said that he and Misley – who was known as Julia Holcomb – had a consensual sexual relationship despite the woman being 16 years old at the time.
