Dee Snider has commented on the recent David Ellefson scandal and says that people need to realize that celebrities are flawed human beings, just like the rest of us.
The TWISTED SISTER singer told the good people over at “The MetalSucks Podcast” in a new interview (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Creatives are damaged goods by definition. We choose to be actors, performers, writers, artists, painters, comedians, all those things, because we’re damaged. And that’s driven us to find these outlets. I don’t know why people are so shocked when the evidence of that damage shows itself. When Dave [Ellefson] from MEGADETH gets caught masturbating [on video], well… First of all, you know a lot of you are doing the same thing. But second of all, he’s a musician. He’s not a priest. You can’t expect him to be priest-like; hell, you can’t expect a priest to be priest-like. But people are so shocked. And I don’t get why the art is thrown away with the artist. If we found out that Michelangelo [the Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet] was a pedophile, would we stop going to the Sistine Chapel [in Rome]. Would we paint it over? It’s no longer good art because the painter turned out to be a pedophile? I’m saying it hypothetically.”
He continued: “All artists and creatives have got some skeletons in their closets, and suddenly the skeleton is shown and we’re, like, ‘Well, he’s not funny anymore.’ ‘He’s not a good actor anymore.’ ‘Kevin Spacey, we can’t watch his movies anymore.’ He’s one of the great actors of his time, but he’s dead because he was… And I’m not saying he was right. But he’s a damaged, broken person — he always was. It’s what made him a great artist. I just don’t get that we throw away the baby with the bathwater, as the saying goes.
“I’m not saying making excuses or whatever. I’m [just talking] about the art being dismissed, thrown out, devalued and disqualified because the artist turned out to be a fallible human being. And people should be very careful. Most of us live in glass houses.
“When I went to [testify before] the Senate back in the ’80s [against the proposition to have warning labels be placed on albums deemed ‘offensive’ to listeners], they talked to me like I was the scum of the earth. Well, cut to all these years later, I’m still married and the Gores [Al and Tipper] are divorced. One of their kids was busted for possession. None of my kids have been busted. Maybe they just got lucky. But the fact of the matter is — judge not, lest ye be judged.”
Dee is referring to the Parents’ Music Resource Center (PMRC), led by Tipper Gore, who were trying to introduce a parental warning system labelling all albums containing “offensive material”. The trio of Snider, Frank Zappa and John Denver were called before Congress to testify in defense of music.
Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH days after video footage involving the bassist and a young fan that wasn’t his wife, engaging in “virtual activities” was posted to Twitter. The longtime MEGADETH bassist filed a report with the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona alleging unlawful distribution of sexually explicit images of Ellefson by unknown offenders.