Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has addressed the sex scandal that led to his departure from the band. In an interview with Metal Hammer, he emphasized there are two sides to the situation, expressing regret for the embarrassment that it caused to his family. Ellefson revealed his decision to keep family matters off the table in interviews to respect their wishes. He also discussed Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine’s response, noting that Mustaine, along with his manager and lawyer, initially considered letting Ellefson handle the situation independently, but Mustaine ultimately made the decision to part ways with him.
Ellefson said the following:
“There’s two sides to it. One: when you bare it all, you’ve got nothing to hide. Fuck it, now you can truly be yourself! We all come into the world with our birthday suit on, so what are we ashamed of? What I feel the worst about is the embarrassment that it caused some people, like my family, who didn’t deserve it. Out of respect for them, I’m going to keep the family dynamic off the table [during interviews]. That’s at their request.”
On Mustaine, Ellefson expressed:
“Dave, his manager and his lawyer There was a sentiment from one of them saying, ‘Let’s step back, let Ellefson deal with it. It leaves the door open for him to come back.’ Dave didn’t want that. He made his decision and it is what it is.”
