New details have emerged concerning David Ellefson’s online interaction with a young woman that led to his dismissal from Megadeth. According to a police report, the bassist admitted to “four to five masturbating encounters” as he pursues a revenge pornography case against the person who leaked a compromising video via social media.
Ellefson was fired from Megadeth on May 24th, with frontman Dave Mustaine stating, “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.”
A few days after his dismissal, Ellefson issued a statement focusing on the criminal aspect of the case: “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.”
A report from the Scottsdale Police Department, as obtained by Rolling Stone, sheds new light on the situation, with Ellefson detailing his relationship with the young woman in question. According to the document, Ellefson recalled first meeting the Dutch woman, who is currently 19 years old, when he was signing autographs at a merch table at a 2019 gig in Holland. At that point, they “struck up a friendship and continued chatting through social media.”
He then met her for a second time at a Netherlands hotel lobby in February 2020, but insisted “there was was no physical contact and they just had a conversation,” adding that “there has never been any sexual physical contact between the two.”
Ellefson, who has been married for 27 years, admitted that he and the woman struck up an online sexual relationship in the summer of 2020 via Facebook Messenger, and “had about four to five masturbating encounters,” the last of which was around February 2021.
The young woman confessed to Ellefson that she “had recorded two to three videos of him masturbating without his consent or knowledge” and shared a video with friends. In May, a video leaked online with the poster calling Ellefson a “pedophile” and insisting that the woman was underage. At that point, Ellefson went to Megadeth’s management and was advised that the situation would probably “blow over.” However, the clip started to go viral before Megadeth’s legal team had a chance to react.
Ellefson initially released a statement calling the encounters “embarrassing,” but insisting that they were among two consenting adults and that he wasn’t grooming her. He also shared an apparent testimonial from the woman herself, in which she stated, “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.
The police report further reveals that Ellefson took a polygraph test and shared screenshots of written messages with the woman to prove that she was of legal age at the time of their encounters. The police department also confirmed that Ellefson is seeking revenge pornography charges against the person who leaked the video, and not the woman herself.
Mustaine referenced an “already strained relationship” with Ellefson in announcing the bassist’s firing. As detailed in this timeline, Ellefson had previously sued Mustaine for $18.5 million for merchandise and publishing royalties, and wasn’t welcomed back to the band when they re-formed in 2004 following a breakup in 2002. He finally did rejoin Megadeth in 2010, as a “salaried employee.”
Megadeth have not named a replacement for Ellefson, who other than that break from 2002 through 2010, had been in Megadeth since 1983. The thrash-metal veterans are scheduled to kick off a co-headlining U.S. tour with Lamb of God in late August.
