What are the allegations against Royel Otis? Photo with Lola Tung sparks backlash among fans

The Australian pop duo Royel Otis is facing online backlash after band member Otis posted a picture with actress and singer Lola Tung. Some internet users speculated that Lola would reportedly appear in the duo's upcoming music video.

Others claimed that the group released the picture to allegedly distract people from resurfaced allegations against band member Royel Maddell, whose real name is Leroy Bessington.

Lola Tung & Royel Otis share photo together fueling conversation on social media. pic.twitter.com/MPCuSydeW6

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 19, 2025

For the unversed, in May 2025, a since-deleted post in the subreddit r/triplej, which is made for the fans of Australian radio station Triple J, stated that Royel Maddell allegedly had a s*xual relationship with a 16-year-old student when he taught at Kings Cross Conservatorium in Sydney.

In June 2025, a Reddit user (u/One_Palpitation_1597) made a post on the band's subreddit. They claimed that Royel, who was in his 30s then, allegedly got caught in the girl's bedroom by her parents, and he reportedly broke his legs after jumping from the window to escape. They also included Maddell's court hearing records.

The Reddit user claimed that the alleged incident was allegedly well-known in the country's music scene, and Royel was reportedly dropped by his label when his solo project was released. Triple J supposedly blacklisted his music. Since then, he reportedly started covering his face.

The user noted that the bedroom escaping was referenced in the band's 2022 song, Motels.

"I'll kick it out the window/'Cause your mom's in the front room/You don't want her to see/That don't bother me/Don't she know that you're a freak?" the lyrics read.

The Reddit user also added a link to the defamation claim the pop duo's current label sent to Google, requesting the company to "remove, block, disable, or otherwise prevent access" to people from looking up "Royel Otis Leroy Francis" on the search engine.

The X page Pop Crave reuploaded Otis' picture with Lola Tung, prompting netizens to comment on it. The X users claimed the band allegedly used Lola for "damage control."

"Just found out royel otis is a predator… and he's using lola for damage control… STAY AWAY FROM THE PRINCESS WTF," one netizen wrote.

"Royel otis trying to use lola to distract from their s*xual abuse allegations. we need to hunt them down," another netizen added.

"Royel otis posting lola tung on insta shortly after posts about royel being a freak gained traction okay," one X user wrote.

Netizens continued to discuss the allegations. One user (@choseromance) said that Royel's alleged behavior would ruin Otis' music dreams.

Another (@ruesmjs) claimed that they were reportedly blocked by the artists when they brought up the matter in their Instagram post's comment section.

"It's so obvious royel otis are using lola to distract from the allegations," one internet user stated.

"This is sad cuz royel's f**ked up behaviour ruins otis' dream of a music career… he's just a kid," another user wrote.

"Called them out on their post and they blocked me… nobody is shocked by these predators' behavior," another X user added.

Royel Otis previously apologized for their lyrics

In May 2025, the Australian pop duo received backlash from fans because of the lyrics of their single Moody. In the song, the duo sang that their girl was a "b*tch when she's moody."

Fans stated that the song was reportedly misogynistic.

The track was written by the band members Royel and Otis, along with songwriter Amy Allen. According to Billboard's May 26, 2025, report, Royel Otis released a statement, apologizing for the lyrics.

They claimed that the song was not written to portray such views.

"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," they stated.

Royel Otis has not responded to the netizens' comments at the time of writing.