Yahoo Finance Megadeth’s David Ellefson denies grooming allegations
Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has denied allegations that he groomed an underage girl online, in a statement posted to his personal Instagram account.
Video of the 56 year-old Ellefson interacting with a young fan surfaced online over the weekend, with allegations soon following that the woman involved was under the age of consent at the time the footage was captured.
However, Ellefson has denied this, writing on social media on Monday (10 May) that while the leaked film is “certainly embarrassing”, it only shows “private, adult interactions that were taken out of context and manipulated to inflict maximum damage to my reputation my career and family”.
He also shared a screenshot of a statement from the woman involved, who clarified: “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.”
Ellefson’s statement reads in full: “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.”
The unnamed woman’s statement reads: “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 initate [sic] 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.
She continued: “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.”
Megadeth recently announced rescheduled dates for their 2021 North American tour with Lamb of God, which will now take place in August, September and October.
Ellefson recently launched an on-demand video podcast called Backstage with David Ellefson.
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