‘Nevermind’ baby refiles cover art lawsuit against Nirvana
Spencer Elden’s original case was dismissed by a judge after he failed to meet a deadline
Another lawsuit has been filed by Spencer Elden, the baby on the cover of Nirvana’s 1991 album ‘Nevermind’.
In the previous lawsuit, Elden claimed that the photograph of himself was used as “commercial child sexual exploitation and child pornography" however, the lawsuit was rejected by a judge as Elden’s legal team failed to meet a deadline.
30-year-old Elden filed the lawsuit against the remaining band members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic as well as against the estate of Kurt Cobain in August 2021.
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This case was rejected “with leave to amend” from the U.S. Disctrict Court in Central California who also added that Elden would be granted “one last opportunity to amend his complaint.”
According to Pitchfork Elden has refiled an amended case which has removed the claim that the defendants “knowingly [benefited] from participation in what they know or should know is a sex trafficking venture”.
This new lawsuit has alleged that the band, Cobain’s estate, the photographer Kurt Weddle and multiple record labels “intentionally commercially marketed the child pornography depicting Spencer and leveraged the lascivious nature of his image to promote the Nevermind album, the band, and Nirvana’s music, while earning, at a minimum, tens of millions of dollars in the aggregate.”
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Elden’s attorneys have said the lawsuit also includes new images and materials which they claim, “reveal the ‘Nevermind’ creators’ deliberate choices to commercialize and exploit the sexually explicit photo lasciviously depicting Spencer’s genitals”.
Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter