Mark Hoyle, better known as LadBaby, has spoken out for the first time about groping allegations made against him and the intense trolling he and his wife, Roxanne, have endured over the years.
The influencer, known for his comedic Christmas hits, detailed the harassment that escalated to such a degree that anti-terror police became involved.
In 2022, Hoyle, 37, faced accusations after an 18-second video surfaced allegedly showing him hugging and rubbing against a woman in a Nottingham nightclub.
The video was sent to the Hoyles with a demand for £10,000 to prevent its release. Choosing to ignore what they hoped was a hoax, the couple were later horrified when the clip was circulated online.
The video, which was eventually removed from TikTok for violating content policies, has no suggestion of non-consensual behavior and its repeatedly been refuted that the man in the video is Mark.
The Hoyles’ ordeal, however, did not end with the video.
Speaking to The Guardian ahead of their memoir Our LadBaby Journey: Success, Sacrifice and Sausage Rolls, Mark Hoyle reflected on the relentless online abuse that came as a result of the video.
The couple even faced unfounded accusations of misusing funds meant for the Trussell Trust, a charity they staunchly support.
The harassment reached such an extreme that anti-terror police were called in to advise the couple.
Mark was threatened in a pub, and had to be put in a taxi by bouncers. ‘We didn’t know how to [handle] it,’ said Mark. ‘And quite often, you don’t want to make the situation worse, and so you don’t do anything.’
Roxanne Hoyle recalled: ‘I don’t think people realize the impact of that level of trolling, where the police came to support us through that time.’
Mark’s mental health suffered, with panic attacks becoming a regular occurrence. The couple also recounted living off just £20 a week during the early days of their career.
Until 2023 when they decided not to release a song, LadBaby claimed the UK Christmas number one for the past five years with their witty remixes of famous songs, such as We Built This City on Sausage Rolls (a take on Starships’ classic hit from 1985) and Don’t Stop Me Eatin’ (a parody cover of Journey’s hit Don’t Stop Believin’).
Last year, the couple confirmed exclusively to Metro that fans could no longer expect new music from the pair.
‘After five amazing years we’ve decided to pass the baton over to the Great British public and we’re not going for Christmas number one this year,’ he said.
He continued: ‘We never expected it to be five, I’ll be totally honest. It’s one of those things that just happened over the years and we thought it was amazing that the public got behind us in the way that they did. Five years ago when we started this, we knew the importance of food banks in this country and we wanted to raise funds and awareness for that so we did that one [song], that was lovely.’
Now parents to two children who often feature in their content, the Hoyles have become a household name in the UK, having collaborated with brands like Walkers Crisps to support food banks and others.
Last year, LadBaby delighted fans in Nottingham with their first live show.
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