David Ellefson has issued a new statement saying he will be pursuing revenge porn charges following a leak of various interactions between him and an allegedly underage woman.
In a statement to Loudwire, the former Megadeth bassist said the following:
“Recently, a very private video was illegally posted on the internet and false allegations were made against me. The actions in the video were between two consenting adults and were recorded without my knowledge. I am working with Scottsdale Police Department in their investigation into charges regarding revenge pornography to be filed against the person who posted this video. Also, my lawyers are preparing a defamation lawsuit to be filed against this person. This person will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
I am taking this time to be with my family. I wish my bandmates the best with their upcoming tour.”
On May 24, Megadeth announced they were parting ways with Ellefson with frontman Dave Mustaine saying in a 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.”
Earlier this month, graphic texts and video surfaced on Twitter, which led to Ellefson being accused of grooming an allegedly underage girl. Ellefson issued his own statement and said in part, “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 involved issued her own statement which she said in part “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.”