Before anyone else messages me about this ... I kinda feel bad for Ellefson about this but sometimes there are... Posted by Greg Christian on Monday, May 24, 2021
Former TESTAMENT bassist Greg Christian has weighed in on David Ellefson's dismissal from MEGADETH, saying "sometimes there are consequences to doing stupid shit."
Christian — whose acrimonious January 2014 exit from TESTAMENT was well publicized on these pages — addressed MEGADETH's decision to fire Ellefson while responding to questions on Facebook about his possible interest in auditioning for the vacant spot in the Dave Mustaine-fronted band.
On Monday (May 24), Christian took to his Facebook page to share MEGADETH's statement about Ellefson's departure, and he included the following message: "Before anyone else messages me about this ... I kinda feel bad for Ellefson about this but sometimes there are consequences to doing stupid shit. But whatever that's their issue not mine.
"My issue is: I'm about 99% certain that Dave (M) only wants a bass player that uses a pick. No fingers. In that camp, Dave is the General. He does what he wants and gets what he wants.
"I can play the shit out of the bass with my fingers but I'm pretty much useless with a pic. It is what it is. If it were different, my broke ass would've already reached out to him. C'est La Vie ... it'll be a good gig for someone. And I wish David (E) the best. I think it's unfortunate things ended up like this (but it's not unexpected)".
MEGADETH fired Ellefson on Monday, two weeks after the leak of the bassist's messages and videos featuring a woman who is not his wife.
Earlier in the month, sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving Ellefson were posted on Twitter. The longtime MEGADETH member later released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he "groomed" an underage fan.
Ellefson's statement was accompanied by a screenshot of a social media post from the woman involved, who denied any suggestions that she was underage at the time. The woman also revealed she recorded the intimate moments and shared them with a friend without Ellefson's permission, calling herself "naïve" for doing so and claiming that the contact between her and the musician was "all consensual and all online." She also called assumptions that she was "groomed" by Ellefson "misinformation".
Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play.
Mustaine reformed MEGADETH 17 years ago. Originally setting out to record a solo album, Mustaine enlisted studio musicians to play on what ultimately became MEGADETH's 2004 "The System Has Failed" comeback album, subsequently recruiting former ICED EARTH bassist James MacDonough to take Ellefeson's place for the album's touring cycle.
In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Mustaine, alleging the frontman shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.
