Who is Spencer Elden? Nevermind baby, now 30, sues Nirvana for 'child pornography'
The baby on Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ album cover is suing the surviving members of the band over child sexual exploitation. The toddler on one of the most recognized album cover arts in the world is identified as Spencer Elden and he is now dragging the band members to the court claiming that the band violated federal child pornography statutes and alleged it was child sexual exploitation. The new lawsuit comes months after the band was sued for copyright infringement for the design of a t-shirt released in the '90s.
According to TMZ, the lawsuit faced by the band also names the photographer Kirk Weddle along with the labels behind the album’s release. In the federal lawsuit, Elden claims he has suffered “lifelong damages” adding that his legal guardians never signed a release “authorizing the use of any images of Spencer or of his likeness, and certainly not of commercial child pornography depicting him.” In laymen’s terms, he could not consent to his picture being used on the album cover as he was way too young to decide. Elden was only four months old when he appeared naked on the ground-breaking cover art from Nirvana’s 1991 chart-topping album ‘Nevermind’. Elden is now seeking $150,000 each from remaining members namely, Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, and Krist Novoselic. Courtney Love, the executor of Kurt Cobain’s estate; Guy Oseary and Heather Parry, managers of Cobain’s estate; photographer Kirk Weddle; art director Robert Fisher; and a number of existing or defunct record companies that released or distributed the album in the last three decades have also been named in the suit.
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What does the lawsuit say?
According to Pitchfork, Elden is also suing for distribution of private sexually explicit materials, negligence, and what’s described as a “sex trafficking venture” where Elden “was forced to engage in commercial sexual acts while under the age of 18 years old.”
If we further shed light on the lawsuit, it states, “The permanent harm he has proximately suffered includes but is not limited to extreme and permanent emotional distress with physical manifestations, interference with his normal development and educational progress, lifelong loss of income earning capacity, loss of past and future wages, past and future expenses for medical and psychological treatment, loss of enjoyment of life, and other losses to be described and proven at trial of this matter.”
How did Spencer Elden land on the iconic cover art?
Photographer Kirk Weddle, who is also being named in the documents, was a good friend of Elden’s father Rick. The kid’s father in an interview with NPR in 2008 revealed what really went down. “[Weddle] calls us up and was like, ‘Hey Rick, wanna make 200 bucks and throw your kid in the drink?” adding that he wanted to meet as he was filming kids that entire week. “Well, I’m shooting kids all this week, why don’t you meet me at the Rose Bowl, throw your kid in the drink?’” Elden’s father added, “And we just had a big party at the pool, and no one had any idea what was going on!”
Elden in 1991 received a platinum copy of the album ‘Nevermind’ along with a teddy bear by Geffen Records. For the unversed, Elden has recreated the legendary cover art with the word “Nevermind” tattooed on his chest several times in the past. Speaking in an interview with GQ Australia in 2016, he spoke about how he was not happy with the artwork. “It’s f**ked up” adding, “I’m pissed off about it, to be honest.”