Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley and his former manager have filed lawsuits against each other over sexual abuse allegations.
In his memoirs, walking catastrophe Whibley accused Greig Nori, the former manager of the hit band “Fat Lip” and frontman of the pop-punk band Treble Charger, of grooming and sexually and verbally abusing him for years.
Nori has denied all allegations against him, stating The Globe and Mail that he had not seen the book or heard the allegations and added: “These are false allegations.” Nori also said he had retained a defamation lawyer.
He also spoke to Toronto Star and claimed that it was Whibley who initiated the relationship, while claiming that the “grooming” accusations were false because they were both allegedly adults when the relationship began.
“The accusation that I initiated the relationship is false. It wasn’t me who initiated it. Whibley initiated it aggressively,” he claimed. “When the relationship started, Whibley was an adult, just like me. »
He went on to tell the outlet: “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. Eventually, the relationship simply fizzled out. Consensually. Our business relationship continued.
Whibley responded to Nori’s comments on his social media and said, “I stand behind every word of my book,” and shared that he was ready to take legal action over the issue.
Now, according to SooToday.comDocuments filed in Ontario Superior Court earlier this month show Nori alleged defamation and “breach of trust, intrusion into seclusion, wrongful disclosure of private facts and placing the plaintiff in a false light.”
He is also seeking damages for the account Whibliey shared in his memoir. The former Sum 41 manager also named Simon & Schuster LLC – the publisher of the memoir – as defendants in the case.
Whibley sued Nori and sought $3 million in damages for “defamation and misrepresentation of the plaintiff” after the plaintiff publicly accused the singer of lying about the allegations in his memoir.
-One instance of alleged abuse detailed in the book allegedly took place when Whibley was 18, and Nori allegedly grabbed his face and “passionately” kissed him while they were taking ecstasy in the bathroom of a rave . The Sum 41 singer claimed he was surprised by the decision because he had never thought of Nori like that before. He also claimed that from there, Nori persuaded him to explore what they had, saying, “Most people are bisexual; they are simply too afraid to admit it.
Whibley also claimed that when he tried to end things with Nori, the Treble Charger frontman accused him of being homophobic and listed the ways Sum 41 “owed” him for helping him make it take off his career.
Later in the book, Whibley alleged that the unwanted sex ended when a mutual friend of his and Nori said it was abuse. However, he claimed that instances of psychological and verbal abuse quickly escalated, as Nori allegedly oscillated between praising Whibley and reprimanding him.
Whibley also accused him of insisting on getting writing credit for many of Sum 41’s songs. This, Nori reportedly said, was because it would give the group “more credibility.”
Sum 41 would later fire Nori in 2005, claiming he was unresponsive to requests, inaccessible and missing opportunities. Whibley said he had not revealed the nature of their relationship to his bandmates at that time.
Whibley told the Los Angeles Times he did not warn Nori of the allegations in the memoir before their publication.
Separately, Whibley recently opened up about the band’s “final run” of farewell shows, admitting that “it’s finally hitting me that it’s coming to an end.” In 2023, the group confirmed that they would disband after releasing one final album and a farewell world tour.
For further help, advice or information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the United States, visit RAINN.
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