Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson was dismissed from the band after news surfaced that he was participating in online video chats with a nineteen-year-old woman. Ellefson has said he was planning on filing revenge porn charges on the alleged leaker. Rolling Stone has obtained the police report which goes into detail on the incidents as part of this story.
According to the report from the Scottsdale Police Department, Ellefson was sexting with a Dutch teenager who recorded Ellefson without his consent. The report confirms the teenager was 19 years old at the time of their first sexual encounter.
Ellefson told police he met the girl in 2019 when he was signing autographs and remained friends on social media. Ellefson and the girl met again in 2020 in the Netherlands at a hotel lobby to have coffee and a soda, which the report adds "there was no physical contact and they just had a conversation." The report later states that the relationship turned sexual in "July or August".
"He stated they had about four to five masturbating encounters," the report said. “The last online sexual encounter was around February 2021. [Ellefson’s partner] admitted to Mr. Ellefson that she had recorded two to three videos of him masturbating without his consent or knowledge." Once the masturbation videos leaked, Ellefson was advised that the band's lawyers would look into things.
"He was advised by management to ‘not do anything and sit tight’ because it would probably ‘blow over,'" the report says. "Management advised him they would have their lawyer team investigate it." The teenager said she shared the videos of Ellefson with friends, but "wasn’t sure how it got leaked out to others. She was remorseful and agreed to send out a social media statement on her Instagram account that she had been a willing consenting adult during their mutual virtual sexual encounter."
Ellefson has previously stated that he plans to charge the person responsible for posting what he deems "revenge pornography" online, and that he's also filing a defamation lawsuit against the person.
"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."
In a recent statement statement regarding Ellefson's departure from Megadeth, Dave Mustaine wrote "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."Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
Ellefson played with Megadeth from their inception in 1983 up until they broke up in 2002. Ellefson rejoined in 2010 and played with the band until this year.
