Modest Mouse guitarist Simon O’Connor is not going to be a part of the band’s upcoming North American tour after an nameless particular person accused him of sending inappropriate Instagram messages shortly earlier than her seventeenth birthday. Screenshots posted on Reddit, and now circulating on X, reportedly present O’Connor sending the fan an specific picture earlier than suggesting they have been each liable for how the alternate unfolded. The 42-year-old musician has since apologized for contacting the particular person however claimed he mistakenly believed the account belonged to somebody who had repeatedly created profiles to “mess” with him.
The allegations emerged in a Reddit publish from an nameless one that stated O’Connor contacted her after she “preferred” a number of of his Instagram posts. In accordance with the shared screenshots, the interplay occurred days earlier than the fan turned 17.
O’Connor allegedly initiated the dialog by sending a picture of individuals enjoying Simon Says accompanied by the phrases, “SIMON calls your bluff BUZZ.”
After the fan reacted to the message with an alien head emoji, the guitarist allegedly despatched her a photograph of a unadorned Black man sitting along with his legs open. O’Connor shortly apologized, prompting the fan to inform him it was “all good” as a result of she believed his account had been “hacked.”
Nevertheless, O’Connor allegedly denied that anybody had taken management of his account. “Want I used to be hacked simply had a celebration night time and every part with one eye ya know,” he allegedly wrote.
Musician Allegedly Stated They Had been ‘Each To Blame’
The unnamed particular person suggested O’Connor to “get an excellent night time of sleep,” and he reportedly responded with a saluting face emoji.
The dialog allegedly continued when O’Connor tried to elucidate why he had contacted her within the first place. “However you probably did blindside me with a gaggle of likes after which little or no intro moreover bikini pics so we’re each in charge,” he allegedly wrote. The guitarist reportedly unsent that message earlier than including, “I did it once more.”
The screenshots shortly circulated on-line, inserting O’Connor below scrutiny over each the specific picture and his alleged try and assign some duty to the underage recipient.
The identification of the particular person behind the Reddit publish has not been publicly disclosed.
Simon O’Connor Responds To Underage Fan Allegations
Because the allegations unfold, O’Connor addressed the controversy in a Reddit assertion reported by Billboard. “Firstly, I want to simply state that I unequivocally oppose any sexual conduct in direction of minors, as a human and a mother or father, it disgusts me,” he wrote.
O’Connor claimed that an unidentified particular person had repeatedly contacted or adopted him by way of a number of social media accounts through the years. “All through my grownup life, there was an individual who has popped up occasionally with the intention of, for lack of a greater time period, messing with me,” he continued. “This particular person creates a number of social media accounts and deletes them … however at all times posts related images that I typically acknowledge from earlier accounts.”
In accordance with the musician, he observed a profile interacting along with his posts one night time and incorrectly assumed it belonged to that very same particular person. “With poor judgement, I made a decision to succeed in out with a tasteless meme, a sticker that learn ‘Simon calls your bluff,’ and an try to point that I acknowledged the “barrage of likes” and related photograph content material from the earlier profiles,” he wrote.
Guitarist Says The Message Was Supposed As A ‘Gotcha’
O’Connor characterised his preliminary message as an ill-advised try and confront the particular person he thought was behind the account. “Virtually a ‘gotcha.’ After a couple of minutes, I noticed that I had made a mistake and this was not the one who I had handled earlier than. I unsent the messages and instantly ceased communication.”
Though his assertion provided an evidence for why he initiated contact, O’Connor acknowledged that the recipient ought to by no means have been positioned in that state of affairs. He stated he was “genuinely sorry to the one who acquired these messages,” including, “They didn’t should be put in that place, and I’m sorry for the stress and a spotlight this has introduced them.”
O’Connor additionally acknowledged that his account of the incident won’t fulfill everybody who noticed the alleged messages. “I do know some folks will select to not imagine me, and I perceive that. I can’t change what’s occurred. All I can do is inform the reality, take duty for my mistake, and apologize,” O’Connor concluded.
Modest Mouse Broadcasts O’Connor Will Miss Upcoming Tour
Modest Mouse subsequently introduced that O’Connor wouldn’t take part in its forthcoming North American tour, which is scheduled to start Tuesday in Ojai, California. “Simon O’Connor is not going to be becoming a member of us on the upcoming tour,” the band stated in an Instagram assertion Friday.
The group didn’t clarify whether or not O’Connor’s absence is momentary or whether or not he has completely left Modest Mouse. Its assertion additionally didn’t immediately reference the allegations or his response. As a substitute, the musicians confirmed that Les Savy Fav guitarist Seth Jabour would take his place for the scheduled performances. “The excellent news is that Seth Jabour of Les Savy Fav might be leaping in to play guitar. We look ahead to being on the market with you all.”
O’Connor’s longer-term standing with Modest Mouse stays unclear, however he is not going to be onstage when the band launches its subsequent run of reveals.
