Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley is alleging in a brand new memoir that he was groomed and sexually abused by the band’s former supervisor Greig Nori, when he was a young person and Nori was in his 30s.
The claims, first reported in a characteristic by the Los Angeles Instances, seem in Whibley’s e book Strolling Catastrophe: My Life By means of Heaven and Hell. In it, Whibley writes that Nori kissed him with out consent and instigated sexual encounters throughout Sum 41’s adolescence in Ajax, Ont., and into the early 2000s.
Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 performs on stage at Brixton Academy, London, 2001.
Martyn Goodacre/Getty Photographs
Whibley by no means informed his bandmates in regards to the alleged abuse, and solely confided in then-partner Avril Lavigne and his present spouse Ariana Cooper, who helped him perceive the connection between himself and Nori as abusive. After years of reflection and studying in regards to the MeToo motion, Whibley informed the L.A. Instances he realized he had been groomed.
“As excited as I’m to share this open and trustworthy memoir of my life story, I’m equally simply as terrified,” a publish on the Sum 41 Instagram web page reads.
Nori, a musician from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., denies the claims within the e book as “false allegations.” He informed the Globe and Mail that he has retained a defamation lawyer.
Greig Nori (R) photographed with Ludacris (L) backstage at ‘Saturday Night time Reside’ on Jan. 21, 2005.
Stephen Lovekin/FilmMagic
The allegations
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In Strolling Catastrophe, Whibley describes assembly Nori for the primary time when he snuck backstage at a Treble Charger live performance when he was 16. On the time, Whibley was in highschool attempting to make his music goals come true, and Nori, the frontman of Treble Charger, was his hero.
Whibley invited Nori to one in every of Sum 41’s upcoming performances, sparking a mentorship that might ultimately develop into Nori managing the band.
Greig Nori, lead singer of the rock band Treble Charger, cheers on the gang because the band performs to greater than 50,000 individuals celebrating the brand new Dundas Sq. in Toronto at its grand opening night, Friday Might 30, 2003.
Tannis Toohey/Toronto Star through Getty Photographs
One evening when Whibley was 18, he and Nori have been at a rave when the older musician requested Whibley to return to the toilet to do ecstasy with him. Inside the toilet stall, Whibley writes that Nori grabbed him and “passionately” kissed him.
Nori allegedly informed the Sum 41 frontman that the pair shared a “particular” connection and the connection was price exploring. Nori would have been round 36 years previous on the time.
On the time, Whibley tried to brush off the encounter as a result of Nori was a trusted determine in his life.
“It appeared like a cool experiment after I was excessive, however after I was sober, it felt improper,” Whibley writes. “Greig stored pushing for issues to occur once we have been collectively. I began feeling like I used to be being pressured to do one thing in opposition to my will. It was an odd feeling as a result of for probably the most half I trusted Greig utterly and nonetheless thought he was an incredible human being, which made all of it so complicated.”
Whibley writes that he tried quite a few occasions to finish the sexual facet of their relationship, solely to be accused of homophobia by Nori. The Treble Charger frontman allegedly informed Whibley he “owed” him for serving to to get Sum 41 off the bottom.
A photograph of Sum 41 from a photograph shoot in San Francisco on Jan. 26, 2002.
Steve Jennings/WireImage
In 2004, Whibley began courting Lavigne, a fellow Canadian pop-punk star, and he shared what had occurred between him and Nori.
“That’s abuse! He sexually abused you,” Lavigne informed Whibley, in keeping with the memoir. Lavigne and Whibley break up up in 2009 after three years of marriage. Whibley’s present spouse, Ariana Cooper, had an identical response when he informed her, he mentioned.
Ultimately, Whibley says Nori stopped attempting to stress him into sexual encounters after a mutual pal realized of the connection and mentioned it was abusive. In 2005, Sum 41 fired Nori as its supervisor.
Avril Lavigne and Deryck Whibley within the viewers through the 2007 American Music Awards held on Nov. 18, 2007 in Los Angeles.
Kevin Winter/AMA/Getty Photographs
As Whibley received older, ultimately hitting the age that Nori was after they first met, the Sum 41 frontman started to higher perceive the ability imbalance of their relationship.
“All of it grew to become so clear,” Whibley informed the L.A. Instances. “Then a few yr later, the Me Too factor began taking place. I began listening to tales of grooming, and it began to make sense.”
In an interview with the Toronto Star, Whibley mentioned he’s not anxious in regards to the potential authorized fallout of the memoir.
“You may’t sue (somebody) for telling the reality,” Whibley mentioned. “If he needs to problem it, I welcome that. Let’s go to courtroom. Let’s go beneath oath. That will be f—king nice! I welcome that half…. Lastly, let’s get it on report!”
Sum 41 is at present touring its last-ever spherical of reveals, and have booked Toronto’s Scotiabank Area on Jan. 30, 2025 as their last cease.
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