Modest Mouse has removed guitarist Simon O'Connor from its upcoming tour following allegations that he sent inappropriate messages and an explicit image to a teenage girl. The band announced O'Connor's removal from the tour on Instagram on Friday.
"Simon O'Connor will not be accompanying us on the upcoming tour," the band stated in a post, adding that Seth Jabour, guitarist for Les Savy Fav, would fill in.
An accusation surfaced on Reddit on July 26, where a user claimed that O'Connor, 42, sent her a "racy photo" and made inappropriate remarks about her social media posts after she engaged with his content. The user stated her profile indicated she was 17 years old.
O'Connor, who has been affiliated with Modest Mouse for five years and performed on their latest album, "An Eraser and a Maze," addressed the allegations on the band's subreddit on July 27. He stated that he believed he was communicating with a prankster who had previously targeted him with fake social media accounts.
"I unequivocally oppose any sexual behavior towards minors, as a human and a parent it disgusts me," O'Connor wrote. He explained that he had previously dealt with an individual who created multiple social media accounts to "mess with me."
O'Connor claimed that after a long night, he saw a profile interacting with his Instagram posts and stories, which he recognized as similar to previous accounts. He stated he "reached 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.'"
He added that he realized "after a few minutes" that he had made a mistake and was not communicating with the person he had dealt with before. "I unsent the messages and immediately ceased communication. I'm genuinely sorry to the person who received those messages," O'Connor said. "They didn't deserve to be put in that position, and I'm sorry for the stress and attention this has brought them."
Modest Mouse is scheduled to begin their tour in support of their new album on Tuesday at the Libbey Bowl in Ojai, California. The U.S. portion of the tour is set to conclude on October 23 in Sacramento, California.