Megadeth's Dave Mustaine is opening up about his old pal David Ellefson almost a year after the allegations of his sexual encounter with a minor made rounds online, saying he never took anybody's side when the news broke out.
Speaking to Rock 100.5 The KATT, the singer candidly shared his true feelings about his pal's dismissal, saying when the allegations spread, he was "pretty blown away." He noted that he never wanted to harm anyone because many people around their circle are already going through a lot of emotions.
In order for him to become neutral about the situation, the guitarist said he never took anybody's side. However, he knows that the band should make action about the issue, which led them to ultimately drop Ellefson from the group.
Since they're already missing one member, Mustaine got confused about whether they'll replace him with a session player or a permanent bandmate.
They ended up hiring James LoMenzo again 11 years after he departed from the group.
Dave Mustaine on James LoMenzo
Speaking about their new bassist, Mustaine described him as a "consummate gentleman" as he's not high maintenance, but rather a "rock star."
The singer added that he doesn't have to stay on top of him because LoMenzo is a professional that worked with many iconic musicians in the past like Ozzy Osbourne.
"'It's not like I have to stay on top of him, where we've had some periods from Day One until even just recently where we had to have a little bit of some Rock School 101," he added. (via NME)
David Ellefson's Allegations
Per the outlet, the bassist was falsely accused of grooming a 17-year-old last year, leading to his firing from Megadeth. Prior to his departure, he played with the group from 1983 to 2002 and later returned in 2010 until the allegations broke out last year.
At the time of the issue, Ellefson denied doing anything wrong, claiming that the woman he was texting with was an adult when they interacted.
The musician was filmed masturbating online with a young woman, but Scottsdale Police Department confirmed that the woman was not underage as she was 19 years old.
The unnamed woman reportedly leaked the video to her friends only, but she's not sure how it made rounds online.
Ellefson did not face any criminal charges, instead, he filed revenge-porn charges against the person in charge of leaking the video.
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