Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has responded to allegations that he groomed an underage female fan after “private, adult interactions” with said fan leaked over the weekend.
The controversy began when an Instagram user, identified only as ‘woahworst,’ started sharing the accusations over the weekend, including what appeared to be damning text exchanges and an explicit video of Ellefson masturbating during a video chat. The Instagram user encouraged followers to spread the news, which they did, ostensibly forcing Ellefson to publicly confront the scandal.
This would not be a good look on anyone. But it’s especially bad for Ellefson: the bassist celebrated his 27th wedding anniversary to his wife, Julie Foley, last month, and became a Lutheran pastor in 2012, after crediting his return to Megadeth following an eight-year absence to his becoming a Christian.
In a statement, Ellefson admits that the leaked materials are “certainly embarrassing,” and “not something I’m proud of,” but also claims they “were taken out of context and manipulated to inflict maximum damage to my reputation my career and family.”
Additionally, Ellefson included a purported statement from the young woman he is said to have groomed. “Yes, those video calls did happen,” the unidentified woman says in her statement, “but I was the one to initiate them and never was I underage, I was always a consenting adult.”
You can read both statements below.
From David Ellefson:
“Dear Fans & Friends,
“As you may or not know, some private and personal conversations and interactions have surfaced online, released with ill intention by a third party who was not authorized to have them or share them. While certainly embarrassing, I want to address it as openly and honestly as possible.
“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 other party involved has made a statement which you can see below. I thank her for doing so and hope that this clarifies that the situation was not at all as presented.
“Humbly Yours,
“David Ellefson”
From the young woman:
“I’m the girl people are talking about in the posts about David Ellefson right now and I just want to tell my side of the story because people are sharing misinformation and the situation is getting out of hand without the truth being out there.
“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. Nothing inappropriate ever happened before that. It was all consensual, I’m not a victim and I have not been groomed in the slightest as I was the one to initiate it. I was just naive enough to record him and share it with a friend without his permission. In the end, it was all consensual and all online.
“I don’t know how it got to this point, but a lot of information is being left out by the people purposely trying to harm him.
“I would ask that anyone sharing these personal private videos or any misinformation about them to please stop.”