Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine writes in his memoir, In My Darkest Hour, that David Ellefson's time in the band was probably coming to an end even before the scandal that led to his dismissal in 2021. Rolling Stone published the excerpt this week.
In May 2021, sexually explicit videos of Ellefson from an online interaction with a 19-year-old fan appeared on Twitter. Megadeth fired the bassist, and his parts on what became The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! were re-recorded by Steve Di Giorgio.
Mustaine writes that he learned about the videos online like everyone else, at a time when he was already reassessing a relationship of nearly forty years. He describes the two of them as friends and creative partners who had also fought like enemies, says his trust was broken by Ellefson's 2004 lawsuit after the band's break-up, and notes that when Ellefson came back in 2010 it was "as a salaried player and not a creative partner".
"I've experienced enough upheaval with David to know that the end was likely near," he writes. "But, certainly, the scandal hastened the process."
Ellefson told Metal Hammer in 2024 that Mustaine did not want to leave the door open for his return. At the time of the leak he denied claims that he had groomed an underage fan, and he filed a report with the police in Scottsdale, Arizona, over the distribution of the images.
The book also covers Mustaine's treatment for throat cancer.
Source: Chaoszine