As Sum 41’s days collectively draw to an in depth, Deryck Whibley is leaving all of it on stage.
The frontman has a brand new memoir, Strolling Catastrophe: My Life By way of Heaven and Hell, detailing his excessive highs and lows since he burst on the music scene together with his Canadian punk rock band within the 2000s. Among the many tales about intercourse, medicine and rock ‘n’ roll, Whibley accuses Sum 41’s first and former supervisor, Greig Nori, of bodily and verbal abuse.
Nori has since strongly denied the allegations, saying it was a “consensual sexual relationship.”
What does Whibley declare occurred?
Within the guide, Whibley, 44, claimed that within the band’s early days, he was groomed and sexually and verbally abused by Nori. He alleges that the grooming started when he was 16 and Nori — who’s additionally the frontman for the Canadian punk band Treble Charger — was 34.
Whibley mentioned Nori “had one requirement to be our supervisor — he wished whole management.” Boundaries had been crossed early, he claims, saying Nori was the primary particular person to offer him alcohol. Whibley alleged he was 18 after they had been within the lavatory collectively at a rave utilizing Ecstasy when Nori “passionately” kissed him with out his consent.
Whibley wrote that Nori “stored pushing for issues to occur” after that, telling him they’d a “particular connection.” The singer felt “like I used to be being pressured to do one thing towards my will.” He wrote that when he tried to finish the bodily relationship, Nori known as him homophobic. He mentioned Nori advised him he “owed” him for launching his profession, and accused him of permitting the connection to start out.
In accordance with Whibley’s guide, the bodily relationship ended after 4 years when a mutual pal of theirs discovered about it. Nonetheless, Whibley claimed Nori continued to verbally and psychologically abuse him. He mentioned Nori would make the band record him as a co-writer on songs. Sum 41 fired Nori in 2005 and Whibley mentioned he by no means spoke to him once more.
Whibley wrote that he stored what allegedly occurred a secret, together with from band members. When he began courting Avril Lavigne in 2004, who he was married to from 2006 to 2010, he confided in her and she or he helped him course of the alleged abuse. He mentioned he advised his story to his present spouse, Ariana Cooper, whom he married in 2015.
“I all the time thought that I’d take this to my grave and I wouldn’t say something,” Whibley advised Rolling Stone. “As I began entering into the guide, I felt like, ‘How might I not be sincere?’”
He added, “As soon as I get to that [Nori] stuff, I used to be like ‘Do I speak about this?’ However how might I not? It’s so intertwined with all the things for seven years. I’d be mendacity if I didn’t.”
How is Nori responding to the allegations?
Nori, now 61, advised the Toronto Star that Whibley initiated what he calls a consensual relationship.
“The accusation that I initiated the connection is fake,” Nori advised the outlet in an announcement. “I didn’t provoke it. Whibley initiated it, aggressively.”
Nori additionally denied that he groomed Whibley.
“When the connection started, Whibley was an grownup, as was I,” the assertion continued. “The accusation that I pressured Whibley to proceed the connection is fake. The accusation that I pressured Whibley to proceed the connection by accusing him of homophobia is fake. Finally the connection merely pale out. Consensually. Our enterprise relationship continued.”
What else does Whibley write about in his memoir?
Along with some rock star exploits, he particulars his 10 years of sobriety after dependancy triggered kidney and liver failure in 2014. Highlights embody:
Is Sum 41 actually breaking apart?
Final yr, the band — which additionally contains Dave Baksh, Jason McCaslin, Tom Thacker and Frank Zummo — introduced they had been splitting. It’s a giant goodbye, because the band launched its eighth and ultimate album, Heaven :x: Hell, in March, and are in the course of the “Tour of the Setting Sum,” which has been going for many of 2024. Their ultimate present is scheduled for Jan. 30, 2025, in Toronto.
Of the cut up, Whibley mentioned final yr, “I have been on this band since I used to be in tenth grade. … I am getting to a degree the place I am pondering, I would prefer to put some focus and power into one thing else. And I felt that is in all probability the most effective report we have ever made. And I feel this model of the band is the most effective we have ever been reside. And I believed, what a strategy to simply exit on this one.”
In the event you or somebody you understand has been sexually assaulted, assist is obtainable. RAINN’s Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline is right here for survivors 24/7 with free, nameless assist at (800) 656-HOPE [4673] and on-line at rainn.org.
