Modest Mouse guitarist Simon O'Connor has faced allegations of sending inappropriate messages to a 16-year-old fan who contacted him on Instagram. According to a Reddit post by the fan, O'Connor initiated direct contact after she engaged with his social media content, subsequently sending a sexually explicit image and making comments about her photographs despite her being a minor.

O'Connor responded on Reddit, stating he had mistaken the account for an individual who had previously harassed him across multiple profiles with similar photo content. He acknowledged poor judgment in his response, apologized for the distress caused to the recipient, and stated he recognized his error within minutes, unsent the problematic messages, and immediately halted communication.