Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has issued a statement in response to allegations of grooming stemming from leaked video calls that purported to show interactions between him and an underage girl.
In an Instagram post, Ellefson confirms the calls did indeed happen, but he denies that the other person was underage, referring to the videos as “private, adult interactions.”
“As you may or [may] 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,” Ellefson writes. “While certainly embarrassing, I want to address it as openly and honestly as possible.”
He continues, “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 post also includes a statement from who Ellefson says is the woman involved, who writes that she was “never” underage during the interactions, and she was “always a consenting adult.”
“Nothing inappropriate ever happened before that,” she writes. “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…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 [Ellefson],” she continues. “I would ask that anyone sharing these personal private videos or any misinformation about them to please stop.”
A post shared by David Ellefson (@davidellefsonbass)
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
