Deryck Whibley, singer and songwriter with platinum-selling Canadian punk-pop band Sum 41, has alleged that he was groomed and sexually abused by the band’s first manager.
In his new memoir Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell, and first reported by the Los Angeles Times, Whibley alleges that Greig Nori pressured him into sexual encounters over a period of four years.
Nori has denied the allegations in a statement to the Toronto Star, describing them as false.
Whibley claims he first met Nori when he was 16 and Nori was 34, with Nori – a figure Whibley respected on the Canadian punk scene – soon becoming a mentor to Whibley and then the fledgling band’s’s manager.
When Whibley was 18, he alleges that Nori offered him ecstasy and kissed him, with Whibley then coerced into an unwanted sexual relationship.
Whibley alleges that Nori would verbally abuse him and accuse him of being homophobic if he attempted to end the relationship. After the relationship did end, when it was discovered by a mutual friend who characterised it as abuse, Whibley alleges the verbal and psychological abuse continued.
Speaking to the LA Times, Whibley characterised Nori as “such a controlling person”, and alleges he also attempted to distance Sum 41 band members from their parents. Nori was fired as the band’s manager in 2005.
In 2018, Whibley won a lawsuit against Nori to win back songwriting credits on Sum 41’s early catalogue, which Nori had originally shared in.
Sum 41 formed in 1996 and signed with Island Records in 1999. Playing boisterous and highly melodic pop-punk in a golden era for the style alongside the likes of Blink-182 and Green Day, they had huge success with their platinum-selling debut album All Killer No Filler, including the hit single Fat Lip. Whibley became a fixture in the tabloids and gossip magazines due to his relationships with Paris Hilton and Avril Lavigne.
Sum 41’s next two albums were each certified gold in the US, but their popularity waned as pop-punk faded from view. But they have recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity as a new generation discovered the genre, earning an airplay hit with Landmines, the lead single from their most recent album, Heaven :x: Hell.
It will also be their final release, with Whibley telling the Guardian in February: “It’s a very strange breakup because we still love being on stage and we still love each other’s company, but that’s why I want to leave it on that note.”
