Spencer Elden is the baby turned man who was photographed for the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind album, he’s now suing the band alleging sexual exploitation.
The world-famous cover depicts four-month-old Elden in a swimming pool reaching out for a dollar bill that’s being dangled in front of him by a fishing line.
Elden is now 30 and claims his parents never signed a release authorising the use of his revealing image on the album.
He is also claiming the nude image is essentially child pornography.
“The images exposed Spencer’s intimate body part and lasciviously displayed Spencer’s genitals from the time he was an infant to the present day,” legal papers in California claim.
Under US law non-sexualised photos of infants aren’t normally considered child pornography.
Elden’s lawyer, Robert Y. Lewis, argues that the addition of the dollar bill all be it added after the image was taken implies the minor to be “like a sex worker”.
The case also states that Nirvana had promised to cover Elden’s genitals with a sticker but this didn’t happen.
Elden said his
“true identity and legal name are forever tied to the commercial sexual exploitation he experienced as a minor which has been distributed and sold worldwide from the time he was a baby to the present day”.
He also claims he
“has suffered and will continue to suffer lifelong damages” because of the artwork, including “extreme and permanent emotional distress” as well as “interference with his normal development and educational progress” and “medical and psychological treatment”.
He’s asking for at least $150,000 (£109,000) from each of the fifteen defendants, including surviving band members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl; manager of Kurt Cobain’s estate, his former wife Courtney Love and photographer Kirk Weddle.
As of yet, we’re still to hear a response to these claims by Nirvana representatives and their record label.
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