A second woman, Jeanne Bellino, has come forward with an accusation of sexual assault against AEROSMITH lead singer, Steven Tyler
Bellino filed a lawsuit alleging that the incident occurred in the summer of 1975 when she was 17 years old, and Tyler was 27. The encounter is said to have taken place in New York City.
According to Bellino, she and a friend were supposed to meet AEROSMITH at the Warwick Hotel in New York City. While walking with Tyler and his entourage down Sixth Avenue, Bellino inquired about the singer’s lyrics, leading to a distressing situation where Steven Tyler allegedly forced her into a phone booth and assaulted her.
“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,” the lawsuit says (as per Rolling Stone). “As Tyler was mauling and groping Plaintiff, he was humping her pretending to have sex with Plaintiff. Others stood by outside the phone booth laughing and as passersby watched and witnessed, nobody in the entourage intervened.”
Bellino added that “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.” She eventually escaped the phone booth “in shock and fear.” During the ordeal, she alleged, “Tyler’s bandmates and members of the entourage watched, laughed and did nothing to intercede.”
Following the phone booth incident, they all went to the Warwick Hotel. Bellino alleges that Steven Tyler began making unwelcome advances, including grinding against her and forcibly kissing her despite her resistance. He reportedly told her he would return to his room for a brief moment and summon her thereafter.
A member of Steven Tyler‘s entourage later informed Bellino, who was left paralyzed by fear, that she could go up to the singer’s room. However, she opted to flee and seek refuge in a cab outside the hotel, with the assistance of a doorman who had witnessed the previous incident.
Bellino‘s lawsuit contends that she has suffered significant emotional and physical distress, including severe emotional distress, physical symptoms, embarrassment, humiliation, personal injuries, and psychological harm. She claimed to have been hospitalized and medicated after the alleged assault and still requires medication to manage the trauma-related long-term physical injuries.
This is the second sexual assault allegation made against Steven Tyler. In December of last year, Julia Misley (formerly Julia Holcomb) filed a lawsuit accusing the AEROSMITH singer of sexual assault and battery when she was 16 and he was 25.
In his 2011 memoir, Steven Tyler wrote about taking a “teen bride” and claimed that her parents signed a paper giving him custody to avoid legal consequences for taking her across state lines. In response, Misley asserted that Tyler’s statements in the book intentionally inflicted emotional distress.
Tyler acknowledged having a sexual relationship with Misley but argued that her claims of assault and battery were invalid due to his status as her caretaker/guardian. Additionally, he sought to have a portion of the lawsuit dismissed, citing his right to freedom of speech in connection with his memoir.
