The indie rock world is reeling tonight after Modest Mouse gave guitarist Simon O’Connor the boot mid-tour, following explosive allegations he sent shockingly inappropriate direct messages to a teenage fan. This isn’t just a lineup change, darlings—it’s a full-blown scandal unfolding in the DMs.

The sordid details emerged from a Reddit post by a 17-year-old fan, who claimed O’Connor, a man in his 40s, slid into their Instagram messages with what was described as an ’erotic image’ of a naked man and comments on their ‘bikini pics.’ The fan alleges they were just 16 at the time, with their birthday plastered right there on their profile. The alleged exchange reads like a cautionary tale from a rock ‘n’ roll horror story: O’Connor reportedly opened with a sticker reading ‘Simon calls your bluff, BUZZZ,’ before sending the explicit meme. When the fan suggested he’d been hacked, O’Connor’s alleged reply was a masterpiece of cringe-worthy deflection: ‘Wish I was hacked just had a party night and looking at everything with one eye ya know… But you did blindside me with a gaggle of likes and then very little intro besides bikini pics so we are both to blame.’ The messages were quickly deleted, but not before a screenshot sealed his fate.

The band’s response was swift and brutal. With zero mention of O’Connor’s future in the group, they simply announced on Instagram that Seth Jabour of Les Savy Fav would be taking his place on the North American tour, kicking off Tuesday. No farewell, no thanks for the memories—just a cold, hard replacement. It’s the kind of PR excommunication usually reserved for the most egregious of backstage sins.

O’Connor, who performs under the moniker Simon Doom, issued a lengthy apology on the Modest Mouse subreddit, spinning a tale of mistaken identity. He claimed he believed the fan was a longtime online harasser who had tormented him with fake accounts, and his messages were a misguided attempt at a ‘gotcha’ moment. ‘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,’ he wrote, adding he ‘unequivocally’ opposes ‘any sexual behavior towards minors.’ But in the court of public opinion, excuses are a weak currency. The optics are damning: a grown man, a rock star with a platform, allegedly messaging a teen about their swimwear.

The fallout casts a long shadow over Modest Mouse, a band already navigating tragedy after the death of original drummer Jeremiah Green. Frontman Isaac Brock now stands as the sole original member, steering a ship rocked by controversy. For a band that famously sang about ‘Float On,’ O’Connor has decidedly sunk. This scandal proves that in the digital age, the most dangerous backstage pass isn’t to the green room—it’s to your Instagram inbox.