Megadeth announced that they are parting ways with founding bass player David Ellefson.
As previously reported, Ellefson has denied accusations of “grooming” a younger woman following the surfacing of graphic texts and video between him and the younger woman. The woman took to Instagram to say that “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.”
Last week Megadeth said in a statement, “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.”
Today, however, they announced that he is no longer in the band. They said, in a new statement, “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. 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. We look forward to seeing our fans on the road this summer, and we cannot wait to share our brand new music with the world. It is almost complete.”
The message is signed, “Dave Mustaine, Megadeth May 24th 2021.”
— Megadeth (@Megadeth) May 24, 2021
Ellefson was a founding member of Megadeth in 1983 and was the only constant member, other than Mustaine, until the group’s first split in 2002. In 2004, Mustaine reformed the band without Ellefson, but Ellefson rejoined in 2010.