Megadeth made a brief statement on the grooming allegations made against longtime bassist David Ellefson in which they acknowledged the recent statements and said they wished for the whole truth to come out. Ellefson denied the allegations on Monday, May 10 and shared a statement from the woman he was allegedly interacting with on video calls, in which she also denied that anything illegal occurred.

He had been accused of grooming a woman he allegedly met when she was 17 and had reportedly interacted with her through now-leaked conversations and video calls. In his response, he stated “While certainly embarrassing, I want to address it as openly and honestly as possible. As much as it’s not something I’m proud of, these were private, adult interactions that were taken out of context and manipulated to inflict maximum damage to my reputation, my career and family.”

The woman said to be involved in the relationship added, “Yes, those video calls did happen, but I was the one to initiate them and never was I underage, I was always a consenting adult. Nothing inappropriate ever happened before that. It was all consensual, I’m not a victim and I have not been groomed in the slightest as I was the one to initiate it. I was just naive enough to record him and share it with a friend without his permission.”

Now, the band has addressed the allegations on their official Facebook account, “We are aware of the recent statements regarding David Ellefson, and are watching developments closely. As it relates to creativity and business, we are all familiar with one another. However, there are clearly aspects of David’s private life that he has kept to himself. As this situation unfolds, it is important that all voices be heard clearly and respectfully. We look forward to the truth coming to light.”

While frontman Dave Mustaine has been the group’s only permanent member, Ellefson is still a founding member of Megadeth. He co-founded the group in 1983, and played with them until he split in 2002 over a royalties dispute and Mustaine’s decision to release a solo album called The System Has Failed under the Megadeth name. He returned in 2010 and has played bass for the band since then. Their last album was Dystopia in 2016, but they also have plans for another album reportedly called The Sick, The Dying and The Dead.

Megadeth are set to go on a co-headlining tour with Lamb of God in August-October 2021, along with highly-popular support acts Trivium and In Flames. It’s justifiably being billed as ‘The Metal Tour of the Year,’ and will be Mustaine’s first full tour since recovering from throat cancer in early 2020.

Ellefson also has a four-date solo “tour” planned for September called  “David Ellefson’s Bass Chronicles.” During that tour, he’ll tell some stories from across his experience as a famous bassist between performances of his music. He also intends to promote his forthcoming horror film Dwellers and book Rockstar Hitman, which he co-created with writer/director Drew Fortier, who’s also set to play guitar in Ellefson’s backing band on the tour. Ellefson has released two solo albums, including Sleeping Giants (2019) and a covers album called No Cover (2020).

Photo credit: Marv Watson