As Sum 41’s days together draw to a close, Deryck Whibley is leaving it all on stage.
The frontman has a new memoir, Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell, detailing his extreme highs and lows since he burst on the music scene with his Canadian punk rock band in the 2000s. Among the tales about sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, Whibley accuses Sum 41’s first and former manager, Greig Nori, of physical and verbal abuse.
Nori has since strongly denied the allegations, saying it was a “consensual sexual relationship.”
What does Whibley claim happened?
In the book, Whibley, 44, claimed that in the band’s early days, he was groomed and sexually and verbally abused by Nori. He alleges that the grooming began when he was 16 and Nori — who’s also the frontman for the Canadian punk band Treble Charger — was 34.
Whibley said Nori “had one requirement to be our manager — he wanted total control.” Boundaries were crossed early, he claims, saying Nori was the first person to give him alcohol. Whibley alleged he was 18 when they were in the bathroom together at a rave using Ecstasy when Nori “passionately” kissed him without his consent.
Whibley wrote that Nori “kept pushing for things to happen” after that, telling him they had a “special connection.” The singer felt “like I was being pressured to do something against my will.” He wrote that when he tried to end the physical relationship, Nori called him homophobic. He said Nori told him he “owed” him for launching his career, and accused him of allowing the relationship to start.
According to Whibley’s book, the physical relationship ended after four years when a mutual friend of theirs found out about it. However, Whibley claimed Nori continued to verbally and psychologically abuse him. He said Nori would make the band list him as a co-writer on songs. Sum 41 fired Nori in 2005 and Whibley said he never spoke to him again.
Whibley wrote that he kept what allegedly happened a secret, including from band members. When he started dating Avril Lavigne in 2004, who he was married to from 2006 to 2010, he confided in her and she helped him process the alleged abuse. He said he told his story to his current wife, Ariana Cooper, whom he married in 2015.
“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?’”
He added, “Once I get to that [Nori] stuff, I was like ‘Do I talk about this?’ But how could I not? It’s so intertwined with everything for seven years. I would be lying if I didn’t.”
How is Nori responding to the allegations?
Nori, now 61, told the Toronto Star that Whibley initiated what he calls a consensual relationship.
“The accusation that I initiated the relationship is false,” Nori told the outlet in a statement. “I did not initiate it. Whibley initiated it, aggressively.”
Nori also denied that he groomed Whibley.
“When the relationship began, Whibley was an adult, as was I,” the statement continued. “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.”
What else does Whibley write about in his memoir?
In addition to some rock star exploits, he details his 10 years of sobriety after addiction caused kidney and liver failure in 2014. Highlights include:
Is Sum 41 really breaking up?
Last year, the band — which also includes Dave Baksh, Jason McCaslin, Tom Thacker and Frank Zummo — announced they were splitting. It’s a big goodbye, as the band released its eighth and final album, Heaven :x: Hell, in March, and are in the middle of the “Tour of the Setting Sum,” which has been going for most of 2024. Their final show is scheduled for Jan. 30, 2025, in Toronto.
Of the split, Whibley said last year, “I’ve been in this band since I was in 10th grade. … I’m getting to a point where I’m thinking, I’d like to put some focus and energy into something else. And I felt this is probably the best record we’ve ever made. And I think this version of the band is the best we’ve ever been live. And I thought, what a way to just go out on this one.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, help is available. RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline is here for survivors 24/7 with free, anonymous help at (800) 656-HOPE [4673] and online at rainn.org.
