Back in August came word that Spencer Elden, the man who appeared naked as a baby on the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind album, had filed a lawsuit against the band and the estate of Kurt Cobain, photographer Kurt Weddle, and others, alleging that they “knowingly produced, possessed, and advertised commercial child pornography,” that they “failed to take reasonable steps to protect Spencer and prevent his widespread sexual exploitation,” and the parties “”knowingly benefit from participation in what they know or should know is a sex trafficking venture.” Last week the suit was dismissed by a judge but Elden has refiled and intends to bring it back to court.ย
Rolling Stone brings word of the latest chapter in this saga, noting that Elden has dropped the wording from his claim about sex trafficking but still alleges that the band earned “tens of millions of dollars” from “intentionally commercially marketed…child pornography. The outlet notes that the legal team representing Nirvana previously argued that Elden had been willing for years to make the claim of being the baby on the album cover, even recreating it as an adult at one point. In a statement to Rolling Stone, Nirvana’s lawyers said: “There is no doubt that Elden’s claims will fail on the merits.”
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The original version of the lawsuit alleged that Elden’s parents were paid only $200 for the photo shoot, which features him naked as a baby swimming in a pool while chasing a dollar bill, but never signed a release allowing the photo to be used for commercial purposes.
Per the motion filed by Nirvana’s representation for the original suit, “Elden has spent three decades profiting from his celebrity as the self-anointed ‘Nirvana Baby.’ He has re-enacted the photograph in exchange for a fee, many times; he has had the album titleย Nevermindย tattooed across his chest; he has appeared on a talk show wearing a self-parodying, nude-colored onesie; he has autographed copies of the album cover for sale on eBay; and he has used the connection to try to pick up women.”
A previous report on the lawsuit revealed that Elden refiling the suit would result in another hearing which is scheduled for January 20th, meaning the saga of the Nirvana Nevermind album cover lawsuit will continue into next week.
