Megadeth has officially parted ways with longtime bassist David Ellefson in the wake of his involvement in a sex video scandal over which he denies having “groomed” an alleged underage girl online. The band’s Dave Mustaine issued a statement yesterday (Monday, May 24th) which read in part, “While we do not know every detail of what occurred, with an already strained relationship, what has already been revealed now is enough to make working together impossible moving forward.”
Megadeth posted the statement online writing, “We are informing our fans that David Ellefson is no longer playing with Megadeth and that we are officially parting ways with him. We do not take this decision lightly.”
Ellefson admitted to having several interactions with a woman via text and video call, including compromising images of Ellefson which were leaked on social media, however Ellefson claims they were “adult interactions that were taken out of context.”
Initially, the band issued a statement saying that they were “watching developments closely” at the time that the news broke. They continued, “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.”
Megadeth and Ellefson previously parted ways during the first six years of Megadeth’s post-2004 reformation, according to Loudwire.