Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that Steven Tyler is officially out of the upcoming Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Power Of Love Gala.
Tyler’s manager, Larry Rudolph, confirmed Wednesday that Tyler will not attend the event, set for February 18 at MGM Grand Garden. Tyler continues to recover from recent health issues, and is not expected to make any public appearances until at least this spring.
Rudolph said Wednesday that Tyler continues to rest following some recent health concerns. The entertainment exec said, “Steven’s doctors have instructed him to take care of himself, but he will be back this year.”
Last month, Aerosmith canceled the final six shows of the “Deuces Are Wild” residency at Dolby Live. The band announced the dropped dates incrementally, ending December 7, citing the 74-year-old Tyler’s poor health. But he had still been part of the Power Of Love’s promotional campaign until this week.
By Tuesday, however, Tyler was no longer appearing on marketing materials for the gala. Tyler was announced last September as the night’s leading celebrity honoree, alongside philanthropist John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of the John Paul Mitchell Systems hair-care company.
The link to the announcement of that pairing on the Cleveland Clinic’s official website has been removed. There is also no mention of Tyler on the Keep Memory Alive website’s link to this year’s gala, though DeJoria’s name as an honoree remains on the site.
Ruvo Center co-founder Larry Ruvo offered no comment Tuesday when asked about Tyler’s status for the gala.
Read more at Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Rolling Stone recently revealed that a woman who claims to have had an illicit relationship with Steven Tyler in the 70s when she was a minor has filed a lawsuit against the singer, accusing him of sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit was filed following California legislation that temporarily waived statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse allegations.
In the suit filed in Los Angeles and obtained by Rolling Stone, the plaintiff Julia Holcomb alleges that Tyler convinced Holcomb’s mother to grant him guardianship over her when she was 16 years old, which consequently allowed her to live with him and engage in a sexual relationship. She claims they were together from 1973 until about three years later. The suit itself doesn’t name Tyler, naming the defendants as Defendant Doe 1 and Does 2 through 50. But Holcomb — who Rolling Stone mentioned in a 1976 profile of the band in reference to Tyler’s romantic life — has been public about her experience with Tyler in the past, and the lawsuit directly quotes from Tyler’s own memoir. In his book, without stating a name, Tyler similarly says he “almost took a teen bride” and 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 the suit, Holcomb alleges that she “was powerless to resist” Tyler’s “power, fame and substantial financial ability, and that Tyler “coerced and persuaded Plaintiff into believing this was a ‘romantic love affair’”. Holcomb alleges that she met Tyler (who would’ve been 25 at the time of their meeting) just after her 16th birthday when Aerosmith played a concert in Portland, Oregon, in 1973. Tyler, according to the suit, took Holcomb back to his hotel room, where they discussed Holcomb’s age. After he allegedly asked why she was out all night by herself, Tyler and Holcomb talked about her troubles at home. He then “performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon” her before sending her home in a taxi the next morning, the lawsuit states.
Tyler also allegedly bought Holcomb her own plane ticket to his next Aerosmith show in Seattle since she was a minor and could not legally travel with him across state lines, the suit says. After the Seattle show, Tyler allegedly performed more sexual acts on her, and Holcomb flew back to Portland the next morning.
By 1974, as the suit alleges, Tyler convinced Holcomb’s mother to allow him to become her guardian, which would allow him to more easily travel with her without criminal prosecution — a timeline that matches Tyler’s own comments from his 2011 memoir. Tyler allegedly told Holcomb’s mother he would provide better support than she was getting at home, promising to enroll her in school and give her medical care. Tyler “did not meaningfully follow through on these promises and instead continued to travel with, assault and provide alcohol and drugs to Plaintiff,” the suit claims.
Holcomb further alleges that she was pregnant with Tyler’s son in 1975 when she was 17 years old but got an abortion after Tyler insisted she terminate the pregnancy following an apartment fire. In making the argument, he cited smoke inhalation and lack of oxygen to the baby. Though the suit claims a medical professional told her the unborn baby was not harmed by the fire.
Read the full report at Rolling Stone.
