But it's always the record labels that make the money. "He feels that everybody made money off it and he didn't," Weddle said. Photographer Weddle spoke to the Guardian in 2019 about the photo and admitted that he was "conflicted about the picture". When he heard I was the Nirvana baby, he thought that was really cool." Nirvana and Kurt Cobain's Estate Accused of Child Pornography By Baby Pictured on Nevermind Cover this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. "This story gave me an opportunity to work with Shepard Fairey for five years, which was an awesome experience. "It's always been a positive thing and opened doors for me," Elden also said to the Guardian. "Recently I've been thinking' what if I wasn't OK with my freaking penis being shown to everybody?' I didn't really have a choice." Looking to the positive side "It's cool, but weird to be part of something so important that I don't even remember," Elden said then. He again recreated the image in 2016 for the New York Post to mark the album's 25th anniversary. Spencer Elden recreó la portada del disco 'Nevermind' Elden has recreated the image sinceĪged 10, Elden recreated the image for Rolling Stone. It has also named photographer Kirk Weddle.Įlden is seeking damages of 150,000 dollars - around 127,000 euros - from each of the 15 defendants named, including those named above. The lawsuit has been directed at Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, who were members of Nirvana alongside the late Kurt Cobain. A California judge on Monday tossed a lawsuit filed against Nirvana by the man who appeared as a naked baby on the cover of their breakthrough album Nevermind. Long-term sufferingĮlden claims, through the lawsuit, that 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". The lawsuit accuses the band of "commercial child sexual exploitation of Elden from while he was a minor to the present day" and that the "defendants knowingly produced, possessed and advertised commercial child pornography depicting Spencer". The album cover shows Elden, then a four-month-old baby, in a swimming pool reaching for a dollar bill dangling in front of him. Now 30, Elden believes the image to be child pornography and is suing the band fo sexual exploitation. It is among the best-known album covers in rock.Spencer Elden perhaps has the most famous baby photo of all time, with him having been the baby featured on the cover of Nirvana's album 'Nevermind'. The cover of "Nevermind" - released in 1991 by the Geffen/UMG label - depicts a naked baby swimming underwater, seemingly towards a fish hook with a dollar bill attached. Despite this knowledge, defendants failed to take reasonable steps to protect Spencer and prevent his widespread sexual exploitation and image trafficking."Įlden's parents never signed a release authorizing the use of the photos taken of the four-month-old baby in a Pasadena aquatic center in 1990 and Elden received no compensation, lawyers for the plaintiff allege. Messages seeking comment sent to the Universal Music Group and an attorney who represents Nirvana LLC were not immediately answered.Īccording to the suit, the defendants "knowingly produced, possessed, and advertised commercial child pornography depicting Spencer, and they knowingly received value in exchange for doing so. Spencer Elden, of Los Angeles, alleges that his "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," according to the complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court.