Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley has revealed that his band's former manager, Greig Nori, sexually and verbally abused him over the course of their time working together.
In his new memoir, Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven And Hell (out today), Whibley details how at the age of 16 he was introduced to Nori, who was a successful musician in the Toronto band Treble Charger, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Update: Greig Nori has denied that he had a non-consensual relationship with Deryck Whibley.
In a statement given to the press on Thursday (October 10), Nori said, “The accusation that I initiated the relationship is false. I did not initiate it. Whibley initiated it, aggressively.”
“When the relationship began Whibley was an adult, as was I,” Nori wrote. “The accusation that I pressured Whibley to continue the relationship is false. The accusation that I pressured Whibley to continue the relationship by accusing him of homophobia is false. Ultimately the relationship simply faded out. Consensually. Our business relationship continued.”
Along with the rest of Sum 41, Whibley says he established a friendship with Nori that saw he become the band's songwriting mentor and manager.
In his book, Whibley writes, “Greig had one requirement to be our manager — he wanted total control. 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 alleges that when he was 18, Nori "passionately" kissed him while they were both on ecstasy at a rave. He writes that he was stunned by the exchange, but Nori explained that "what [they] had was so special,” Whibley writes in the book.
As time went on, Whibley claims that Nori tried to justify his feelings by saying, "So many of my rock star idols were queer. … Most people are bisexual; they’re just too afraid to admit it.”
Whibley writes that Nori pressured him into sexual relations, and while he tried to keep his distance from his manager, Nori accused him of being homophobic and said he “owed” him for advancing his career, accusing the much younger musician of "allowing the relationship to start."
After marrying Avril Lavigne in 2006, Whibley says he finally confided in someone, telling her about the relationship, to which Lavigne responded, “That’s abuse! He sexually abused you.”
Nori allegedly stopped "instigating sexual encounters" after a friend learned of the inappropriate relationship, citing it was abuse, however, Whibley writes that the psychological and verbal abuse only got worse from that point on.
He accuses Nori of trying to take credit for a number of songs written by Sum 41, manipuling them into thinking they would have more cred if he name was attached to them. The band eventually fired Nori in 2005.
Whibley also alleges that Nori tried to keep the band members away from their families. "He knew they would get suspicious of the way things were running," Whibley writes. "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.’ ”
Whibley tells the Times that he has yet to confront Nori about what he wrote in the book, saying, “You know, I don’t owe him anything. I’ve had an inner battle, like, ‘Why do I want to tell him? Because I feel like I’m supposed to? Because he still has this thing over me?’ He controlled everything in my life, but even the rest of the guys through the band. We were all under his wing. Me more, obviously. But he was such a controlling person.”
Read the full interview with Deryck Whibley here.