“Just f**k off”: David Ellefson isn’t satisfied with Dave Mustaine’s reasoning for not enlisting ex-bandmates for Megadeth’s final tour
Back in 2022, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine vowed that he was never going to perform alongside ex-bandmate David Ellefson ever again. Even in light of Megadeth’s grand farewell tour, Mustaine is sticking to that promise – and Ellefson isn’t happy about it.
Despite going on record saying that his Megadeth firing was a blessing in disguise akin to being “kicked out of hell”, the bassist has changed his tune. He’s made it very clear that he is “available” for the band’s final run of gigs, recently telling Gustavo Olmedo’s Quemar Un Patrullero podcast that he holds no “bitterness towards Dave or Megadeth” [via Blabbermouth].
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However, Ellefson does still hold a few grievances. Namely, he has an issue with comments Mustaine made in a 2025 interview with SiriuxSM, where the frontman said that he wouldn’t be enlisting former bandmates for Megadeth’s farewell tour due to “the behaviour of one of [his] band members in the past”.
While Mustaine didn’t delve into specifics, one could assume he is alluding to Ellefson’s previous allegations of sexual misconduct in 2022, after explicit videos were shared online. Ellefson denied any wrongdoing and filed a ‘revenge porn’ lawsuit against the person who uploaded the videos to social media.
In light of Mustaine’s comments, Ellefson has one thing to say: “Fuck off… just fuck off”.
“Who is that one person?” he ponders. “It wasn’t me, because I didn’t do anything that would prevent me from coming back at all… And so this sort of deflective thing, to get on some moral high ground? Gimme a break.”
“I had rock stars much bigger than Dave coming to my side and coming to my aid, standing by me, saying, ‘Man, just let me know if you need anything, that’s really fucked up,’” he continues. “It’s fucked up how I was discarded. People were saying, ‘I’m really disappointed that they chose business over brotherhood’. At the end of the day, the brotherhood will always last beyond the business of owning a rock band – especially something we started and built together.”
“I could call a lawyer, I could go back into defamation lawsuits, and I have every right to – trust me,” the bassist adds. “But at the same time, there’s two ways to win in tug of war. I either pull you over the line or I just drop the rope and let you fall on your ass… And that’s what I’ve chosen to do.”
In a recent chat with Argentinian rock radio station UnDinamo, Ellefson implored Mustaine to consider allowing old bandmates to join Megadeth on their last tour. His reasoning was that it would “give [the fans] what they want”.
In a January NME interview, Mustaine explained that his reasoning boiled down to his ex-bandmates “saying bad things in the press” about him. It’s fair to assume Ellefson’s cries of “fuck off” probably wont help his case. Nor will his comments about the band’s final album, a record Ellefson told The David Ellefson Show that he “[doesn’t] care” about, since he’s “really moved on from Dave, from Megadeth”.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
