Royel Otis are facing backlash over a lyric in their new single Moody, with many calling it lazy at best — and outright misogynistic at worst.
The line in question? “My girl’s a bitch when she’s moody.” Short, sharp, and enough to land the Aussie duo in hot water with fans who expected better. Released on May 9, Moody was co-written with Grammy-winning songwriter Amy Allen and framed in early press as simply “a song about a girl.” That line clearly didn’t land the way the band intended.
The fallout hit fast. Instagram comments were flooded with criticism, with some fans accusing the band of deleting or ignoring negative feedback. One former friend of vocalist Otis Pavlovic told news.com.au it was “disheartening” to hear that kind of language in 2025 — especially from an artist they once knew.
“Casually referring to women as ‘bitches’ in a love song isn’t just tone-deaf,” they said, “it contributes to a culture that devalues women.”
In response, Royel Otis issued a statement via their management, saying: “This song is written from a specific perspective, it is not intended to convey a broader view or standpoint about women in general. We apologise if anyone understood those lyrics otherwise.”
Which is fair. But it’s also a classic non-apology — carefully worded, with a subtle shrug at the idea of intent versus impact. The song is still live, the lyric unchanged, and the band hasn’t addressed the backlash directly themselves.
This isn’t about one word in one song. It’s about the artists we expect more from — especially the ones riding high off critical acclaim and breakout success. Moody might be doing numbers, but it’s also put Royel Otis under a different kind of spotlight.
If they want to be seen as more than just another indie buzz band, perhaps they will need to show they’re listening — not just to the charts, but to the people who put them there.
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