In his new memoir, Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 accuses his band’s former manager Greig Nori of sexual abuse and grooming.
As revealed Tuesday (Oct. 8) in the newly published pages of Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell, the now-44-year-old rocker was 16 when Nori — then 34 — allegedly began abusing the musician. According to snippets of the book shared by the Los Angeles Times, the now-61-year-old Treble Charger band member was a personal hero of Whibley’s before he became a songwriting mentor and manager to Sum 41, after which the alleged sexual misconduct began, with Whibley claiming that when he was 18, Nori cornered him in a bathroom stall at a rave and “passionately” kissing him.
Over time, Whibley alleges in his book that Nori manipulated him by calling the younger musician homophobic if he didn’t reciprocate. Whibley also writes that Nori said he “owed” his then-manager for his career, and alleged that Nori pressured him into continuing the relationship because “so many of my rock star idols were queer.”
“Greig had one requirement to be our manager — he wanted total control,” Whibley writes in Walking Disaster, according to the LA Times. “We couldn’t talk to anyone but him, because the music business is ‘full of snakes and liars’ and he was the only person we could trust.”
Billboard was not able to reach Nori at press time. Multiple publications, however, have reported that Nori did not reply to requests for comment.
“I always thought that I would take this to my grave and I wouldn’t say anything,” Whibley told Rolling Stone. “As I started getting into the book, I felt like, ‘How could I not be honest?’”
Whibley still hasn’t told his bandmates about the alleged abuse, according to the LA Times. In March, Sum 41 dropped its eighth and final album, Heaven :x: Hell, after which the band spent much of this year on a farewell tour. In January, the group is slated to play Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, marking its final show ever.
Nori hasn’t been in the picture since 2005, when Sum 41 fired him at Whibley’s urging, according to the LA Times. Without disclosing anything about his personal experiences with Nori at the time, the frontman eventually persuaded his bandmates to part ways with their manager by citing Nori’s alleged professional failings, from fumbling opportunities for the group to being unreachable and showing up to important events under the influence of ecstasy.
Whibley went on to marry Avril Lavigne, who was one of the first to tell him, “That’s abuse! [Nori] sexually abused you,” the “Landmines” singer writes in Walking Disaster, according to the LA Times.
After the couple divorced in 2009, Whibley wed Ariana Cooper, to whom he’s been married for 10 years. Cooper had the same reaction as the “Complicated” musician, Whibley says.
Even so, it wasn’t until Whibley turned 35 — one year older than Nori was when he allegedly began abusing Whibley — that the Sum 41 guitarist finally started to understand what he’d been through. “It all became so clear,” Whibley told L.A. Times. “Then about a year later, the Me Too thing started happening. I started hearing stories of grooming, and it all started to make sense.”
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual abuse, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 for confidential help 24/7.
