Nirvana, Kurt Cobain’s Estate Sued by Naked Baby on ‘Nevermind’ Cover Over Child Sexual Exploitation
The naked baby on Nirvana's "Nevermind" album cover is now all grown up, and he's suing the rock band and Kurt Cobain's estate over child sexual exploitation Tuesday.
Spencer Elden claimed that he was the baby featured on the cover of Nirvana's groundbreaking album in 1991. The lawsuit came 30 years after the iconic rock band dropped the said album.
Elden now runs after the band and asks for at least $150,000 from each of Nirvana's surviving members and Cobain's estate, claiming that his naked baby body caused him to "suffer lifelong damages."
Naked Baby on Nirvana's 'Nevermind' Album Cover Sues the Rock Band
The said album cover of Nirvana features a nude baby boy swimming with a dollar stuck on a fishhook. The album showed the baby's private parts while spreading his arms on the water.
In his lawsuit, Elden claimed he has no consent to his image used on the 1991 album cover since he was only a four-month-old baby at the time.
He added that his legal guardians have also never signed a release authorizing the use of his images or "of his likeness." Spencer Elden claimed the image is actually child pornography.
The now 30-year-old man is suing for negligence and distribution of private sexually explicit materials and what's described as a "sex trafficking venture" where he "was forced to engage in commercial sexual acts while under the age of 18 years old."
Spencer Elden also claimed in the lawsuit that Nirvana pledged to cover his genitals with a sticker, but it was never made on the album cover.
According to Pitchfork, Elden recreated the image several times in the past years and had the word "Nevermind" tattooed on his chest. But in 2016, Elden told GQ Australia that he became unhappy with the album cover and was "pissed about it."
Nirvana's 'Nevermind' Album Cover
Nirvana released the "Nevermind" album in 1991. Geffen Records art director Robert Fisher earlier said that Nirvana's former lead guitarist, Kurt Cobain, saw a documentary about babies being born on the water and thought that the image would make a cool cover for the album.
It was photographer Kirk Weddle who took the shot of baby Spencer Elden grasping for the all-mighty dollar underwater. Weddle happens to be a friend of Elden's father. Aside from Elden, Weddle also cast four other infants.
Baby Elden was reportedly paid $250, which was a standard hourly rate for a no-name model at the time. Weddle, Kurt Cobain's former wife Courtney Love, and the record labels behind the album were also among 15 defendants included in Spencer Elden's case.
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This article is owned by Latin Post
Written By: Joshua Summers
WATCH: Nirvana Baby Spencer Elden Interview - From John Chapple
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