Sum 41 musician Deryck Whibley says he was the victim of sexual, psychological and verbal abuse at the hands of a former manager during his ascent to worldwide fame.
In his memoir, “Walking Disaster: My Life through Heaven and Hell,” Whibley accuses former manager Greig Nori ― also known as the frontman of Treble Charger, a Canadian rock band ― of “grooming” and pressuring him to be in a sexual relationship.
According to Whibley’s book, the alleged abuse began when Whibley was 16 and Nori was 34. The pair met backstage at a Treble Charger concert, with Nori moving on to become Whibley’s songwriting mentor and, later, Sum 41’s manager.
“Greig had one requirement to be our manager — he wanted total control,” Whibley writes in the book, according to excerpts that appeared Tuesday in the Los Angeles 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.”
Whibley details one specific incident that took place when he was 18, during which Nori “passionately” kissed him in a bathroom stall after the two men had taken ecstasy. From that point on, the rock musician claims that Nori told him to pursue the relationship because “so many of my rock star idols were queer. … Most people are bisexual; they’re just too afraid to admit it.”
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When Whibley attempted to end their physical encounters, he said Nori claimed he “owed” him for boosting his music career, and accused him of being homophobic. The psychological and verbal abuse allegedly intensified after Whibley began a relationship with fellow musician Avril Lavigne, to whom he was married from 2006 to 2009.
In addition to the abuse, Whibley also told the Los Angeles Times that Nori urged him and his bandmates to sever ties with their families because “he knew they would get suspicious of the way things were running.”
“He would always be like, ‘You can’t have a relationship with your parents and be in a rock band. It’s not cool. It’s going to hurt your career,’” he said.
Nori, who was fired by Sum 41 after the release of the 2005 album “Chuck,” did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on Whibley’s claims.
Elsewhere in the book, Whibley credits Lavigne as well as his current wife, Ariana Cooper, with clarifying to him that Nori’s behavior was abuse. The rise of the Me Too movement, he said, made it “so clear.”
“I started hearing stories of grooming, and it all started to make sense,” he said.
In an Instagram post tied to the Times article, Whibley wrote: “As excited as I am to share this open and honest memoir of my life story tomorrow, I’m equally just as terrified.”
Sum 41 released what’s billed as their final album, “Heaven :x: Hell,” in March. The band’s current tour will take them to Los Angeles, London and other cities before wrapping in Toronto in January.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.