Modest Mouse replacing guitarist Simon O’Connor on tour following allegation of inappropriate messages to minor

Modest Mouse have announced that guitarist Simon O’Connor (who had been in the band since 2021) will not be joining them on their upcoming tour. Seth Jabour of Les Savy Fav will take his place. “We look forward to being out there with you all,” the band’s message reads.

The news comes after O’Connor was accused of sending inappropriate messages to a fan via Instagram DM. The fan said they were 16 when they received the messages, and said they had their date of birth listed in their profile, as well as a countdown to their 17th birthday in their stories, which they said O’Connor had viewed. The screenshots they showed of the interaction included a sexually explicit meme (the screenshot was censored but they said the actual post hadn’t been).

O’Connor posted a response to the allegations in the band’s fan subreddit, which reads:

Hey, Simon here. I would just like to address some of the conversation on this thread that has come to my attention.

Firstly, I would like to just state that I unequivocally oppose any sexual behavior towards minors, as a human and a parent it disgusts me.

Throughout my adult life, there has been a person who has popped up from time to time with the intention of, for lack of a better term, messing with me. This person creates multiple social media accounts and deletes them… but always posts similar photos that I often recognize from previous accounts. After a long night, I picked my phone up to discover that a similar profile had been interacting (“likes” to be specific) with some of my instagram posts and stories. I assumed that this was the same person I had dealt with before and, with poor judgement, I decided to reach out with a tasteless meme, a sticker that read “Simon calls your bluff,” and an attempt to indicate that I recognized the “barrage of likes” and similar photo content from the previous profiles…. Almost a “gotcha.” After a few minutes, I realized that I had made a mistake and this was not the person who I had dealt with before. I unsent the messages and immediately ceased communication.

I’m genuinely sorry to the person who received those messages. They didn’t deserve to be put in that position, and I’m sorry for the stress and attention this has brought them.

I know some people will choose not to believe me, and I understand that. I can’t change what’s happened. All I can do is tell the truth, take responsibility for my mistake, and apologize.