Ex-Metallica Member ‘Whined’ After Sudden Departure

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Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson was recently asked if he spoke to the band’s leader Dave Mustaine “about a solution” before he was fired from the group in May 2021, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

Shortly before Ellefson was fired from Megadeth, he released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he “groomed” an underage fan. He also filed a report with the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona alleging unlawful distribution of sexually explicit images of him by unknown offenders. In the report, Ellefson admitted that he had been exchanging sexual text messages with a Dutch teenager.

David Ellefson opens up on the matter

While speaking in a new interview with Brazil’s Heavy Talk, he responded:

I got one call: ‘You’re fired.’ [Laughs] And I said, ‘What the f***, man?’ I said, ‘Some shitty f***ing people just dropped a bomb on my house. And that’s it? It’s not even true. It’s f***ing 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 f***ing 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 f***ing thing, which, quite honestly, was very damaging and very hurtful and not fair. I’m glad I don’t have that f***ing amends on my shoulder, because that was f***ed up.

“Look, I have no choice but to have to forgive it so I can move on. I really don’t,” he continued. “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 f***ing 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 f***ing 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, ‘F*** 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.”

Ellefson added:

“I mean, look, I knew three things when I met Dave: one, our band was gonna be successful; two, it was gonna be a lot of work; and three, one day this is gonna end really badly. I just could tell. [Laughs] Even at 18 years old, a kid from the farm, naïve as I was, I went, ‘Yeah, all three of those things.’ And I was right: check, check, check. I certainly didn’t see it ending like that. And part of me, I always kind of go, ‘Is it really the end of the story?’ I mean, look at how it ended in 2002. In 2004 and [200]5, we were in litigation over business matters and stuff, and I ended up going back to the band. So I’d rather not disrespect it and be pissed about it. These are things that you work out privately, not publicly. And the press liked to have a field day with it because it was good clickbait there for a season. But the truth of it is Dave and I aren’t talking about it anymore, and that’s why I’m not talking about it anymore. At some point, you move on. You let the music do the talking now.”