Greig Nori and Deryck Whibley have taken their feud surrounding shocking sex abuse allegations to the next level by filing statements of claim against each other in Ontario Superior Court.
The duelling lawsuits come weeks after SooToday first reported that both musicians had filed court documents against one another, indicating their intentions to sue.
Nori, who is from Sault Ste. Marie, filed a notice of action against the Sum 41 frontman last month, claiming more than $6 million in damages for libel after Whibley went public with allegations of sexual abuse and grooming in the pages of last year’s memoir, Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell.
The book’s publisher, Simon & Schuster LLC, was also named as a defendant.
Whibley slapped Nori with his own notice of action days later, claiming $3 million in damages from the Treble Charger co-founder for “defamation and placing the plaintiff in a false light,” after Nori publicly accused him of being a liar once the allegations of sex abuse made headlines internationally.
Statements of defence have yet to be filed and the claims have not been tested in court.
In a 19-page statement of claim obtained by SooToday, Nori’s lawyers contend that Walking Disaster “falsely and maliciously” accused him of having groomed Whibley as a minor for the purpose of entering into a sexual relationship.
Lawyers for the Treble Charger frontman also claim that Whibley “aggressively” initiated the consensual sexual relationship between the two, and that Nori had once told Whibley that he “never thought of Whibley sexually.”
Whibley’s claim that Nori pressured the Sum 41 singer to continue their sexual relationship is also refuted in the statement of claim, all while painting a picture of a young musician who was enamoured with his one-time manager.
“Whibley told Nori he was in love with him,” reads the statement of claim.
“As the relationship developed, Whibley told Nori that he was proud of the relationship and wanted to tell everyone about it. Nori discouraged Whibley from doing so.”
It’s also alleged the book “falsely and maliciously” states that Nori had “total control” of Whibley and Sum 41 as the band’s sole manager, and that Nori was able to compel Whibley to continue their relationship by threatening him, stating that Nori “wouldn’t be our manager anymore” if Whibley didn’t “stay with him.”
According to the statement of claim, Nori shared the management of Sum 41 on a “50-50 basis” with Nettwerk Management, and did not insist on total control nor that the band refrain from speaking to anyone else.
“In Walking Disaster the defendants falsely and maliciously seek to sharpen the sting of their defamation of Greig Nori, and enhance its credibility, by presenting fabricated facts,” the claim reads.
The civil suit launched by Nori also accuses both Whibley and Simon & Schuster of acting with “malicious disregard for fairness and accuracy” because they kept the allegations against Nori contained in the book a “secret” from him prior to its publication.
This occurred despite Whibley’s management reaching out to Nori weeks before the memoir’s release so that Whibley could buy one of the guitars that Nori had apparently let Whibley use during the formative years of Sum 41.
Whibley has since posted a photo of himself with the guitar on social media, claiming he had reunited with it after the guitar was stolen in 2003.
“Whibley used these obvious falsehoods to intentionally mislead the public and falsely promote himself and his concert tour, just as he has intentionally misled the public in publishing his false accusations against Nori in Walking Disaster, for the same purposes,” the claim alleges.
Lawyers for the Sum 41 founder filed a 28-page statement of claim in Superior Court days later, alleging that Nori’s statement to various media outlets, in response to the bombshell accusations contained in Walking Disaster, is rife with false allegations that are malicious in nature.
As previously reported by SooToday, Nori issued a statement to several media outlets, claiming the accusation that he engaged in a non-consensual sexual relationship with Whibley was a "lie," while acknowledging a consensual sexual relationship between the two.
Lawyers for Whibley are claiming that Nori is now liable for the republication of the statement.
“The publications disseminated the statement, or portions of it, to a wide audience, amplifying the false and defamatory content about Mr. Whibley,” the claim says.
Legal counsel for Whibley served Nori with a notice of libel in October 2024, according to the claim, but so far Nori has “refused to retract or apologize for the statement or the publications.”
The statement to the media was deemed to be a “deliberate attempt to get ahead of and mitigate the consequences” of the “accurate” story of their relationship in the book, according to the court documents.
“Mr. Nori acted out of malice toward Mr. Whibley and with the deliberate intention of discrediting his reputation and holding him up to public scandal, ridicule and contempt,” the claim reads. “Mr. Nori acted out of ill-will and spite towards Mr. Whibley, with the intention of harming him.”
The pair of lawsuits come months after Whibley posted a video to social media, challenging Nori to settle their differences in a courtroom.
“I’m not a liar, and 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 — under oath. In front of a judge, in front of a jury," Whibley said at the time. "Anytime you want. I’m ready whenever you are.”
Lawyers for both Nori and Whibley have yet to respond to requests for comment made by SooToday on Tuesday. A lawyer representing the book's publisher, meanwhile, has declined to comment.