A US judge has denied Royel Otis guitarist Royel Maddell’s request to force Reddit to reveal user identities tied to allegations of sexual misconduct.
A US judge has denied an attempt by Royel Otis guitarist Royel Maddell (legal name Leroy Bressington) to compel Reddit to hand over identifying information linked to anonymous users who posted serious allegations about him last year.
The matter traces back to May, when the Australian pop rock duo drew criticism over misogynistic lyrics in their breakout single ‘Moody’. Around the same time, a thread appeared on the r/triplej subreddit alleging that Bressington had engaged in a sexual relationship with a minor who was also his music student. That Reddit thread has since been deleted, and Bressington has not filed a defamation lawsuit in Australia or elsewhere.
In October, however, the Royel Otis guitarist sought a subpoena from the District Court of Northern California, where Reddit is headquartered. The request aimed to force the platform to disclose personal information tied to several anonymous users, including names, email addresses, and phone numbers. According to court documents, Bressington wanted the information so he could “contemplate” legal action against those users for defamation.
On December 24, the court denied the subpoena request, saying that the request “overreaching and would be overburdensome.”
The court docket outlines that Bressington’s legal team suggested they were “prepared to initiate” a defamation action if the Reddit users were found to be based in Australia. However, the filing stopped short of stating that a lawsuit would definitely be pursued. The court noted this ambiguity as part of its reasoning.
“The Royel Otis’s song ‘Moody’ proved to be a hit but also fodder, because of its song lyrics, for anonymous people on the Internet allegedly falsely to label Bressington a sexual ‘predator’ who had engaged in a nonconsensual sexual relationship with a minor while he was her music teacher,” the docket reads.
District Court Judge William Alsup also highlighted a key omission in Bressington’s application. While the filing denied claims that an ex partner accused him of sexual misconduct, that he had been charged by authorities, or that Royel Otis were dropped from a record label, it did not explicitly deny the allegation of a sexual relationship with a minor. “As only one indication among others, Bressington has not specifically rejected as false one of the most basic assertions alleged: that when not a minor he had sex with a minor,” the docket reads. That absence was noted as significant in the court’s assessment.
So far, Bressington has not filed any formal complaint or legal action in Australia related to the allegations. Neither Royel Otis nor their representatives have publicly commented further following the judge’s decision.
Attempts to unmask anonymous online users through US courts are not without precedent, though outcomes vary. In 2022, a judge ordered Twitter to provide identifying information about an anonymous account that made allegations of sexual abuse against All Time Low guitarist Jack Barakat. In this case, however, the court found Bressington’s request did not meet the necessary threshold.
For now, the ruling means Reddit will not be required to disclose user data connected to the deleted thread, and the situation remains unresolved beyond the court’s refusal to grant the subpoena.
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