October 16, 2008

Avril Lavigne, Deryk Whibley 'Strongly Deny' Marital Problems

By James Montgomery (MTV.com)

Despite anything you might have read, Avril Lavigne and Deryck Whibley's marriage is apparently just fine, thank you.

That's according to a statement posted Tuesday on Whibley's band Sum 41's MySpace page, under the title "Totally False Gossip," denying a report in the National Enquirer that his two-year marriage to Lavigne was on the rocks, and that he had recently put his career on the back burner "in favor of partying."

"The National Enquirer ... [has] issued a gossip story surrounding Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 and his wife Avril Lavigne. For the record we strongly deny the inference of marital problems between Avril and Deryck," the statement reads. "We also strongly deny the National Enquirer claims of any other liaisons. Deryck has in fact been traveling through Asia performing with Avril as evidenced by the numerous YouTube videos."

The Enquirer story quotes an "insider" as saying that Lavigne and Whibley's marriage has been strained by "his manic bar-hopping and seemingly bachelor-like behavior," and that, earlier this month, as Lavigne toured China, Whibley was seen with a "statuesque brunette beauty" at Los Angeles' Villa nightclub.

"Deryck isn't motivated in his own career, so he's been drinking and partying," the insider reportedly said.

Whibley's statement doesn't address any of the Enquirer's charges directly, but rather ends by questioning the validity of the publication's sources, and took the media to task for even bothering to report on the story in the first place.

"I'm actually very surprised that so many media outlets picked this story up," he says in the statement. "Since when did the National Enquirer become a trust worthy news source?"

Lavigne and Whibley were married in July 2006, at a private ceremony in Montecito, California. They had gotten engaged the previous year in Venice, Italy.