Modest Mouse have dropped guitarist Simon O’Connor from their tour lineup following allegations he sent inappropriate messages and a meme to an underage fan.
O’Connor subsequently apologized to the fan, claiming he had confused her with someone who had been harassing him.
“Simon O’Connor will not be joining us on the upcoming tour,” the band posted on Instagram. “The good news is that Seth Jabour of Les Savy Fav will be jumping in to play guitar. We look forward to being out there with you all.”
As reported here previously, the allegations surfaced last weekend on Reddit, when the fan shared screenshots of O’Connor’s messages. After realizing his error, O’Connor apologized. The woman wrote back that she had assumed someone had hacked his account.
“Wish I was hacked just had a party night and looking at everything with one eye ya know,” O’Connor replied.
“But you did blindside me with a gaggle of likes and then very little intro besides bikini pics so we are both to blame,” he wrote in a followup.
In her Reddit post, the fan explained that she was 16 at the time of their exchange, and noted that her birthday was “the first thing in my bio.” She said O’Connor had viewed a story with a countdown to her 17th birthday, and she provided screenshots to back her claims.
Responding in a Reddit post of his own, O’Connor explained that he had been trolled repeatedly by someone else who used multiple accounts and believed the fan was that person.
“After a few minutes, I realized that I had made a mistake and this was not the person who I had dealt with before,” he wrote. “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.”
Fans replying to Modest Mouse’s Instagram announcement have been supportive of the move to drop O’Connor.
“Good news for people who love good news,” wrote one.
“Sorry you guys had your names attached to that previous guitarist, yall are some incredible musicians and deserve better people in your corner,” wrote another.
O’Connor has played guitar for Modest Mouse since 2021 and is on their new album, An Eraser and a Maze.
