David Ellefson on being ousted from Megadeth: “I don’t have any sour grapes over it”

Ex-Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has opened up about his firing from the band, saying in a new interview that he’s ultimately “not bitter” about their decision.

Ellefson was fired from his role in May, following allegations that the bassist groomed an underage girl online. Ellefson denied the claims, saying that “as much as it’s not something I’m proud of, these were private, adult interactions that were taken out of context and manipulated to inflict maximum damage to my reputation, my career and family”.

The musician gave his first public interview since the firing earlier this week, telling Aftershocks TV that he was “perfectly content and happy” with his post-Megadeth life. Now, in another interview with SiriusXM, he’s addressed his current relationship with former bandmate Dave Mustaine, and the incident that led to his forced departure.

“The night [the videos were leaked online], a couple of people said, ‘Hey, don’t say anything,’” Ellefson said, Heavy Consequence reports. “In particular, the Megadeth camp didn’t want me to say anything. But my legal [team] said, ‘Hey, I think you should say something.

“I think some people have done some really shitty things here and made some false allegations about you, and you have every right to defend yourself.’ And I did. Ultimately, that led to my dismissal from Megadeth. But I have every right, as anyone does, to defend yourself, especially when somebody is making false allegations about you like that.”

On how he dealt with the fallout from Mustaine – who was adamant that Ellefson would not rejoin the band – he said: “Dave and I are grown men, and we have opinions. It’s not the thing where it’s just Dave and three side guys when it’s me and the band. And apparently, they didn’t want that anymore – they wanted it to not be that.

“It’s, like, ‘Hey, we don’t want you here. There’s the door. Don’t come to work on Monday.’ So, it’s, like, ‘Okay. Fine.’ And that’s just how I viewed it, and that’s how I view it today. I don’t have any sour grapes over it, and I’m not bitter about it.”

The bassist – who performed with Megadeth from their 1983 inception until their 2002 disbanding, then from their reunion in 2010 until his firing – recently formed a new project called The Lucid, for which he recruited members of Fear Factory and Sponge. The band released their eponymous debut last Friday (October 15).

Ellefson also filed revenge-porn charges against the person who uploaded the videos that led to his dismissal from Megadeth.

As for Megadeth themselves, the legendary thrash metallers recently finished a tour of the US. On one date of the tour, Mustaine launched into an anti-mask rant.

The band are currently gearing up to release their 16th album, ‘The Sick, The Dying And The Dead’, sometime in 2022. Ellefson’s replacement for the record is still unconfirmed at the time of writing, however the band reunited with former bassist James LoMenzo for their recent US run.