A second woman has come forward with allegations against Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, saying he sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager decades ago.
Jeanne Bellino alleges in the suit that Tyler sexually assaulted her “in approximately 1975 when she was approximately 17 years old.” Tyler was 27 in 1975.
At the time, Bellino was a child model and had an opportunity to party with the band at the Warwick Hotel in New York City, the suit says. On the way there, the suit alleges, he forced her into a phone booth, kissed her and groped her. He assaulted her once they arrived the hotel, as well, according to the suit.
“Tyler used his power, influence, and authority, as a well-known musician to sexually assault” Bellino, alleges the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in New York Supreme Court, the state’s top trial court.
Representatives for Tyler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bellino filed the suit nearly a year after another woman, Julia Misley, sued Tyler alleging sexual assault, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress in Los Angeles.
That suit alleged that Tyler sexually assaulted Misley when she was a teen in the 1970s, as well. It alleged he persuaded her parents to give him legal guardianship over Misley so she could travel with him across state lines. It also alleged that Misley became pregnant with Tyler’s child in 1975 and that he persuaded her to get an abortion.
Tyler has denied Misley’s allegations, having filed a motion to strike parts of her initial complaint last year. He also argues that he had consent and immunity because Misley’s mother had signed over legal guardianship to him and that any statements from his memoir are inadmissible because of free speech.
According to the lawsuit filed Thursday, Bellino often participated in fashion shows on weekends. After one such show, Bellino agreed to go to the Warwick to meet the band, the suit says.
On the way to the hotel, Bellino alleges, she and a friend met up with Tyler and walked to the Warwick “with around a half a dozen people who appeared to be bandmates and other people affiliated with Aerosmith band,” according to the filing.
Bellino also alleges that during the walk, she made a comment about a song lyric to Tyler and he became “visibly irritated” in response.
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“Suddenly Tyler grabbed [Bellino] by the hand and forced her into a phone booth,” the lawsuit claims.
In the phone booth, “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 alleges that Tyler was “mauling and groping,” “humping” and “pretending to have sex with” Bellino, while witnesses outside the phone booth laughed. Nobody intervened, the suit says.
Tyler then “inserted his tongue” into her mouth “without her consent,” and his “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,” according to the lawsuit.
Bellino struggled with Tyler, who was restraining her, according to the lawsuit. Eventually, she was able to free her right arm, grab the back of his head and raise her knee, which got Tyler to back off, the suit alleges. She got herself together and ran out of the phone booth “in shock and fear,” it says.
Because she was relying on her friend for transportation home to Queens, Bellino followed Tyler’s entourage to the Warwick, where he, again, assaulted her, Bellino alleges, pinning her against the wall of the hotel bar, putting his tongue down her throat and humping her to stimulate sex.
Again, the lawsuit alleges, nobody intervened.
Tyler then “abruptly left” and later invited Bellino to his hotel room, the lawsuit alleges. She refused — while, she says, she was sobbing and shaking in the lobby — and the doorman of the hotel helped her into a cab to get home, it claims.
When she got home, the lawsuit says, Bellino shared the allegations with her sister immediately.
Because of Tyler’s acts, the suit claims, Bellino has suffered permanent emotional and physical distress and has been unable to enjoy normal daily life as a result. The suit also claims that Bellino was hospitalized and medicated because of the assault.
The cause of action listed in the suit is gender-motivated violence. Bellino is asking for an “amount that will fully and fairly compensate [her] for [her] injuries and damages.” She is also demanding a trial by jury.
