{"id":9333,"date":"2026-01-06T04:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T04:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/royel-otis-guitarist-cant-identify-reddit-sexual-misconduct-accusers\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T16:34:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T16:34:04","slug":"royel-otis-guitarist-cant-identify-reddit-sexual-misconduct-accusers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/royel-otis-guitarist-cant-identify-reddit-sexual-misconduct-accusers\/","title":{"rendered":"Royel Otis Guitarist Can’t Identify Reddit Sexual Misconduct Accusers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\tA judge has denied Royel Otis guitarist Royel Maddell\u2019s attempt to identify the anonymous Reddit users who accused him of grooming an underage student when he was a music teacher.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a Dec. 24 order, Judge William Alsup said Maddell (real name Leroy Bressington) hasn\u2019t met the requirements for a subpoena unmasking the Redditors who claimed he had been found guilty of having sex with a minor pupil. Maddell said he needed this information to bring a defamation lawsuit in his home state of Australia \u2014 but the federal judge was unconvinced that the guitarist would actually follow through.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cNo litigation to stop these statements has been filed anywhere in the world,\u201d wrote Judge Alsup. \u201cSo far as we know, Bressington never has put pen to paper to inform any government authority anywhere in the world about the matters that concern this application, until submitting it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe judge also pointed out that while Maddell declares he has never been charged or convicted of sexual misconduct by any criminal authorities, he \u201chas not specifically rejected as false one of the most basic assertions alleged: that when not a minor he had sex with a minor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ruling held that these factors ultimately weighed against ordering a subpoena against Reddit. Maddell\u2019s reps did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday (Jan. 5), nor did the social media platform.<\/p>\n

\n\tMaddell makes up one half of Royel Otis alongside singer Otis Pavlovic. The indie-pop duo landed their first Billboard <\/em>No. 1 chart entry in May with \u201cMoody,\u201d though the song\u2019s hook, \u201cMy girl\u2019s a b\u2013h when she\u2019s moody,\u201d attracted accusations of misogyny.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was in the wake of the controversy around \u201cMoody\u201d that users on Reddit began claiming that Maddell had an improper sexual relationship with a student years earlier. The claims caught fire, leading to the creation of an entire subreddit titled \u201cRoyel Otis Allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMaddell got lawyers involved, asking for Reddit\u2019s help in unmasking the users who started the scandal. But the social media company declined, citing free speech and privacy concerns. Maddell\u2019s attorneys then took Reddit to court in October, arguing that the company \u201ccontinues to allow these defamatory posts to remain on its platform and to spread beyond it.\u201d<\/p>\n


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