Report: David Ellefson Was Fired From Megadeth Four Days After Video Leaks
A new report has come to light indicating that David Ellefson was fired from Megadeth just four days after his sex videos leaked, 10 days before the band publicly announced his dismissal.
Ellefson was publicly let go from Megadeth on May 24 after videos recorded without his consent showed him masturbating during a video chat with a woman other than his wife. Initial accusations that the woman was underage, that Ellefson “groomed” her and the relationship was not consensual were rebuffed both by Ellefson and the woman herself. In his statement dismissing Ellefson from the group, Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine indicated that there were also unrelated factors involved in his dismissal, citing “an already strained relationship.”
The new report, via Arizona Republic, says that Ellefson was notified on May 14 by Megadeth that the band would be dismissing him, ten days before the public announcement and three days after the band said they were “watching developments closely.” It’s unclear why the band, led by Mustaine, waited 10 additional days to make the announcement.
A separate report from Rolling Stone surfaced earlier this week that included details from a police report Ellefson filed in Scottsdale, AZ that seeks revenge porn charges against the video leaker (not his video partner), whose identity has not been made public. Among the revelations in the article: Ellefson admitted to “four to five masturbating encounters” with the woman; the video chats were captured without his consent; the partner, a 19-year-old Dutch woman, admitted that she had “shared the video with some friends but wasn’t sure how it got leaked out to others;” the two only met twice in person, both before the videos were filmed, and there was no physical contact or sexual overtures at those meetings (or any physical contact at any time).
Ellefson took a polygraph test to affirm his claims and presented police with a photo of his partner’s ID to prove she wasn’t underage. He also shared screen shots of text exchanges between the two to prove the relationship was consensual, claims that both of them have made publicly.
The two first met at a signing in 2019 and later got together for “coffee and a soda” in February 2020. After the latter meet-up, the two began communicating online more often, and the relationship became sexual last summer.
Ellefson claimed in the police report that Megadeth’s management informed him the person who leaked the video had previously harassed other band members.
Ellefson either quit, made private, or shut off the comments on all of his major social media accounts a few days after the videos went public.
