Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley is challenging his former manager Greig Nori to meet him in court to settle the veracity of Whibley's allegations that he was sexually abused by his mentor as a teenager.
In his recently published autobiography Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell, Whibley writes that he was groomed and sexually abused by Nori, Sum 41's first manager, who fronts Ontario punk quartet Treble Charger
The Canadian pop-punk band began working with Nori in the mid-'90s when Whibley was 16 ,and Nori was 34. The older man receives songwriting credits alongside Whibley on four songs on Half Hour of Power, Sum 41's debut EP.
In his memoir, as reported in The LA Times, Whibley writes that when he was 18, and at a rave, Nori invited him into a toilet stall to take ecstasy, and “passionately” kissed him. In the weeks and months that followed, Whibley says he was pressured into engaging in sexual acts. with the older musician, and that when he sought to end what he saw as an abusive relationship, Nori accused him of being homophobic and suggested that Whibley “owed” him for the guidance and assistance Nori was giving Sum 41.
Nori has not directly addressed Whibley's allegations, but in a short statement given to the Toronto Star, he claimed that the pair had a consensual relationship, and stated, “The accusation that I initiated the relationship is false. I did not initiate it. Whibley initiated it, aggressively.”
Today, October 15, Whibley posted a video on Instagram offering to meet Nori in a court of law to see which of the two are telling the truth.
“I take no pleasure in coming out with the truth about what happened between me and my ex-manager, but it was something that I just couldn’t keep in anymore, and I had to let it out,” a visibly emotional Whibley says in the video, admitting that he's suffered “a heavy week” since the allegations were made public. “It’s come to my attention that Greig Nori has now called me a liar. I tell you right now, I stand behind every word that’s in my book, 100 percent. I’m not a liar.”
“I'm going to speak to you directly Greig Nori: if you think I’m a liar, there’s only one way to settle this,” Whibley continues. “Under oath, in front of a judge, in front of a jury. Anytime you want. I’m ready. Whenever you are.”
Whibley ends the post by thanking his band, his family, and Sum 41's fans for their support.
In the post's comments section, Sum 41 bassist Cone McCaslin writes, “we got your back”
Watch the video below:
