Former Megadeth bassist/vocalist David Ellefson has lashed out at his ex-bandmate, Megadeth vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. His bitter words were shared amid a recent conversation with Heavy Talk.
In that chat Ellefson once again opened up on his 2021 firing from the legendary thrash metal outfit. Ellefson was of course let go from the band after leaked videos of him sexually pleasuring himself emerged online. Those videos arrived alongside accusations that Ellefson had been partaking in an online sexual relationship with an underage fan. Ellefson himself publicly denied the allegations.
The authorities were eventually involved with a police report revealing that the the 58-year-old bassist conducting an online sexual relationship with a 19-year-old fan. As the age of consent had been met per the local laws of both participants, no charges were filed.
Ellefson himself did however vow at the time to file revenge porn charges against a third party who allegedly leaked the video footage. Speaking to the Heavy Talk about how he was let go from the group in the wake of the controversy, he offered:
“I got one call: ‘You’re fired.’ [Laughs] And I said, ‘What the fuck, man?’ I said, ‘Some shitty fucking people just dropped a bomb on my house. And that’s it? It’s not even true. It’s fucking bullshit. And this is how you treat me?’ It was non-negotiable. I mean, I asked. I said, ‘I’m gonna take care of it. Let me just deal with it. And it will fucking be done. We’ll be ready to go on the road in two months, and everything will be fine.’
And it was. Because it was just false allegations and bullshit. But [Dave] didn’t wanna know about it. I think he was getting pressure from some other people around him. And it’s too bad it went that way. Because it was really nothing. I took care of it. And then once the word came out that I was fired, then it turned into this big fucking thing, which, quite honestly, was very damaging and very hurtful and not fair. I’m glad I don’t have that fucking amends on my shoulder, because that was fucked up.”
In the same chat, Ellefson would later bring up Mustaine‘s decades long feud with his former bandmates in Metallica. Mustaine was infamously kicked out of the band in the early 1980s due to his well-documented problems with substance abuse at the time.
While Mustaine had been able to bury the hatchet with his former Metallica bandmates in James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, their relationship appears to have once again turned sour.
Ellefson referenced that situation in his chat with Heavy Talk offering:
“Look, I have no choice but to have to forgive it so I can move on. I really don’t. So I don’t know what more to say about it other than that. Look, at some point… The damage was done. So you move on. We’re all human, and it is what it is. You can’t lament it. I’ve watched how he’s treated his dismissal from Metallica, still bitching about it 40 years later, and I think it looks fucking pathetic.
And it’s, like, ‘You know what? Fix you shit and move on.’ And that’s how I’ve chosen to deal with it: fix your shit and move on. And that’s why I put out four records in the time the last fucking Megadeth record came out, and I think every one of ’em are as good or better than the latest Megadeth record. I think the quality… And part of it is I’m working with great people. Whether they’re famous or not doesn’t matter. I’m working with good people. They’re safe, they’re reliable, they’re truly men of integrity, and I think that really makes a big difference.
I feel safe around them. And the creative process is fun. It’s not restrictive. It’s unlimited. And so this creative explosion has happened. And again, listen, I’m not trying to be in 85 bands — believe me, I’m not.
But it’s interesting that there was this sort of post-Megadeth season here where all these records came out. And rather than try to limit them and restrict them, I’m, like, ‘Fuck it. Put ’em out. Let’s go.’ In a lot of ways, it’s turned out okay. It’s been fine. And I’m okay. People ask, and I’m, like, ‘I’m okay.’ It was kind of a weird ending.”
Since parting ways with Megadeth, Ellefson has involved himself in several outfits, including DIETH, The Lucid and the Megadeth tribute act Kings Of Thrash.
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