A prominent Sault Ste. Marie musician is being accused of sexual abuse in a new memoir that is making headlines around the world.
Deryck Whibley, the lead singer of Sum 41, alleges in his newly released book that he was coerced into a sexual relationship as a teenager by the group’s then-manager — Greig Nori, the well-known Sault musician who co-founded the popular band Treble Charger.
Whibley was 16 when he met the Treble Charger frontman in the mid-'90s. Nori was in his early 30s.
“For the longest time, I never thought I would ever speak about this stuff,” Whibley told The Toronto Star, in an article published online Monday night. “It was a deep, dark secret I was going to take to my grave.”
But in his new book— Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell — Whibley reveals for the first time what he says happened between him and Nori when Sum 41 was still an up-and-coming band from Ajax, Ont.
When they first met, he says Nori was a mentor who provided advice, equipment and contacts in the industry. “He was becoming like an older brother and even father figure to me,” Whibley wrote in the book, according to The Star. “[He] seemed cool, generous and kind … I was young, impressionable, and completely in awe of Greig.”
He eventually became the band’s manager — on one condition, according to Whibley. “He wanted total control,” the book says. “He promised to protect us. We were so young and hungry that we believed him.”
It wasn’t long after that, Whibley wrote, that things took a dark turn. The two were in New York, where he says they took ecstasy at a warehouse party.
“We were jammed in a gross bathroom stall and I was talking non-stop, when he reached over, grabbed my face, and kissed me on the mouth passionately,” Whibley wrote. “I was very confused. Was that OK? Was I upset? Did I like it? Was he gay? Was he just high and being crazy? So many thoughts were coming at me so quickly that I couldn’t comprehend them.”
The Star reports that Whibley kept the encounter secret from his bandmates, but that Nori persuaded him to continue the physical aspect of the relationship.
“It seemed like a cool experiment when I was high, but when I was sober, it felt wrong,” he wrote in the book. “Greig kept pushing for things to happen when we were together. I started feeling like I was being pressured to do something against my will. It was a strange feeling because for the most part, I trusted Greig completely and still thought he was a great human being, which made it all so confusing.”
SooToday has reached out to Nori for comment but has yet to receive a response. Reached by phone on Monday night by The Globe and Mail, Nori told the newspaper he had not seen the book or heard the allegations until details were published online by numerous media outlets.
“These are false allegations,” he said. He also told The Globe he has retained a defamation lawyer.
Nori has never been criminally charged in connection with the allegations Whibley outlines in his book. SooToday has no way to independently verify the accusations.
The Star asked Whibley if he was concerned about potential litigation.
“You can’t sue [someone] for telling the truth,” he replied. “If he wants to challenge it, I welcome that. Let’s go to court. Let’s go under oath. That would be f—king great! I welcome that part. Let’s get into discovery. I’ll have my lawyers grill you. They can grill me all they want. I mean, that would be f—king perfect! Finally, let’s get it on record!”
Nori is currently the recording studio manager and engineer at The Loft.
