Sum 41 singer Deryck Whibley accuses ex-manager of abuse

Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley has claimed in his new memoir that he was abused for years by the Canadian rock band’s former manager.

In the memoir, Whibley accuses the band’s first manager, Greig Nori, of grooming and sexually abusing him since he was a teenager.

In an interview with the Los Angeles TimesThe singer says he kept the dark side of the relationship a secret from his bandmates for years.

Mr Nori described Whibley’s claims as “false”.

Sum 41 is a multi-award-winning punk band formed in 1996 that has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide.

Whibley’s memoir, “Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell,” released Tuesday, documents the highs and lows of the band’s early beginnings in the Toronto music scene and their rise to international fame.

The beginning was helped in part by Mr. Nori – then in his 30s and the frontman of a popular Canadian indie band. He met Whibley after a show and began mentoring him.

Mr. Nori later became the young band’s manager.

Whibley said one evening Mr. Nori suddenly kissed him “passionately” in a bathroom stall at a rave, which surprised and confused the then 18-year-old, who was high on Ecstasy at the time.

He claims that Mr. Nori forced him into an unwanted sexual relationship that lasted about four years.

“Greig kept pushing for something to happen when we were together,” he writes in his memoirs, according to the Toronto Star.

“I felt like I was being pressured to do something against my will.”

When the physical relationship ended, Whibley, now 44, claims Mr Nori continued to commit verbal and psychological abuse.

Whibley claims he revealed his relationship with his former wife, Canadian singer Avril Lavigne, who said: “This is abuse! He sexually abused you.”

The couple was married from 2006 to 2009.

The Sum 41 singer said the Toronto Star In an interview, he said the relationship with Mr. Nori was “a deep, dark secret that I would take to the grave.”

“But I didn’t know how to tell the story [of the band] without it because it was so intertwined with everything that was going on in my life on an almost daily basis at that point.

The band split up with Mr. Nori in 2005.

Mr. Nori told the Globe and Mail that Whibley’s claims were “false accusations” and that he had hired a defamation lawyer.

The BBC has contacted Mr Nori for comment.

In a statement to the Toronto Star on Thursday, Mr. Nori said: “The allegation that I initiated the relationship is false. I didn’t initiate it. Whibley initiated it aggressively.”

He said the relationship eventually “disappeared. Amicably.”

Whibley told the LA Times that he did not warn Mr. Nori about the allegations before publishing the memoir.

“I had an internal struggle, like, ‘Why do I want to tell him?’ Because I feel like I should? Because he still has this thing about me?'” he told the newspaper.

Sum 41 are currently on their farewell world tour and will disband after 28 years together.