According to blabbermouth.net, during recent interview with Metal Hammer magazine Megadeth‘s former bassist David Ellefson talked about the scandal that led to his firing from the band: “There’s two sides to it. One: when you bare it all, you’ve got nothing to hide. Fuck it, now you can truly be yourself. We all come into the world with our birthday suit on, so what are we ashamed of? What I feel the worst about is the embarrassment that it caused some people, like my family, who didn’t deserve it. Out of respect for them, I’m going to keep the family dynamic off the table [during interviews]. That’s at their request.”
Regarding Megadeth’s leader Dave Mustaine’s response to the report that sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving Ellefson, the bassist said: “Dave, his manager and his lawyer [called me after the scandal]. There was sentiment from one of them saying, ‘Let’s step back, let Ellefson deal with it. It leaves the door open for him to come back.’ Dave didn’t want that. He made his decision and it is what it is.”
At the time, Ellefson released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he “groomed” an alleged underage fan. The musician also filed a report with the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona alleging unlawful distribution of alleged sexually explicit images of him by alleged unknown offenders.
When being asked in the 2022 issue of Metal Hammer whether dismissing Ellefson from Megadeth was a difficult decision to take, given the longtime friendship between the two men, Mustaine replied: “I have made mistakes myself and so I know what it feels like to have people gunning for you. But what we had to remember is that Megadeth has a lot of moving parts to it. There are four band members; you’ve got their families, their management companies, the agencies, all of their technicians and on and on and on.”
Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado
Leave a Comment