Modest Mouse Replaces Guitarist Simon O’Connor Amid Allegations

Modest Mouse has announced that guitarist Simon O’Connor will not join the band’s upcoming North American tour following allegations that he sent inappropriate social media messages to a minor.

In an Instagram post shared Friday (July 31) and captioned “Upcoming tour update,” the indie rock band revealed that O’Connor will be replaced on the trek by Les Savy Fav guitarist Seth Jabour.

“Simon O’Conner will not be joining us on the upcoming tour,” Modest Mouse wrote in the statement. “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.”

The band did not provide further details about O’Connor’s status beyond the upcoming tour or indicate whether he remains a member of Modest Mouse. Billboard has reached out to the band’s representatives for comment.

The announcement comes as Modest Mouse prepares to tour in support of its eighth studio album, An Eraser and a Maze, released in June. The North American run begins Aug. 4 at Libbey Bowl in Ojai, California, and wraps Oct. 24 in Sacramento.

O’Connor, who joined Modest Mouse in 2021, was accused in late July by a Reddit user who said they were 17 years old of sending them “an erotic image” and commenting on their “bikini pics.” The user alleged they were 16 years old when the photos referenced were taken.

The guitarist later responded to the allegations in a Reddit post, writing that he “unequivocally” opposes “any sexual behavior towards minors.” He also claimed he mistakenly believed the Reddit user was someone who had repeatedly created fake social media accounts to troll him.

“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,” O’Connor wrote. “This person creates multiple social media accounts and deletes them… but always posts similar photos that I often recognize from previous accounts.”

He continued, “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.”

See Modest Mouse’s Instagram post below.