According to Michael Azerrad’s Nirvana biography Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, the label relented when Cobain would only agree to a sticker covering up the penis that read, “If you’re offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile.” The band’s label Geffen did worry the baby’s visible penis would offend audiences and thought about covering it up. The cover was shot by Kirk Weddle, who was a friend of Elden’s family.
Kurt Cobain reportedly conceived the idea for the cover art while watching a TV program about water births. “Sooner or later, I want to create a print of a real-deal re-enactment shot, completely naked. “I might have one of the most famous penises in the music industry, but no one would ever know that to look at me,” said Elden. However, in a January 2015 interview with The Guardian, Elden seemed more enthused about being on the cover. In 2007, during an interview with the Sunday Times, he said it was “kind of creepy that many people have seen me naked … I feel like the world’s biggest porn star.” While he has re-created the cover art for the album’s 10th, 17th and 25th anniversaries, he has also expressed discomfort about the nature of his fame. The 30-years-old Elden was four-months-old when he was depicted on the 1991 album cover.
The lawsuit (which can be viewed in full here) calls out Cobain specifically: “Cobain chose the image depicting Spencer-like a sex worker-grabbing for a dollar bill that is positioned dangling from a fishhook in front of his nude body with his penis explicitly displayed.”
Elden is seeking $150,000 in damages from each of the defendants, plus legal costs. The lawsuit lists Nirvana’s surviving band members, the executors of Kurt Cobain’s estate, and various record labels as defendants. In a complaint filed on Tuesday at a federal court in California, Elden’s lawyers claim he suffered “lifelong damages” from the cover. Cobain died in 1994.The cover art for Nirvana’s Nevermind-which features a naked baby chasing after a dollar bill in a pool-is one of the iconic album covers in music history, but a new lawsuit filed by Spencer Elden (the baby in the photograph) claims the artwork is “child pornography.” Elden is suing the band over alleged “child sexual exploitation.” "Nevermind" features Nirvana's signature song "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and its worldwide sales exceed 30 million. The latest complaint includes a declaration from art director Robert Fisher, describing a stock photo he used for a mockup for the "Nevermind" cover that depicted a different baby and did not show his penis.Įlden said the band decided to create its own photo to save money, with Cobain sardonically suggesting that the cover include a warning sticker saying: "If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile."įisher was dismissed as a defendant last month.Įlden's lawsuit no longer accuses Nirvana of violating a 2003 federal law against child sex trafficking, after the defendants said that law could not be applied retroactively. District Judge Fernando Olguin dismissed an earlier version because Elden had not responded to the defendants' dismissal motion. The "Nevermind" cover art depicted Elden, then 4 months old, swimming naked toward a dollar bill pierced with a fish hook, an image Elden has said caused him "lifelong damages."Įlden filed his amended complaint nine days after U.S. A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Nirvana made by Spencer Elden, who appeared as a naked baby on the cover of the band’s classic 1991 album Nevermind, Spin magazine reports.
Lawyers for the defendants did not immediately respond on Thursday to requests for comment. Elden is seeking at least $150,000 from each.
Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic Courtney Love, the widow of Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain several record labels, and photographer Kirk Weddle are among the 10 defendants. Spencer Elden, the plaintiff, maintained in an amended complaint filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles that the "lascivious nature of his image" amounted to "child pornography" that helped the band reap tens of millions of dollars at his expense. The pool symbolizing the ocean, shows the band’s. The baby stands for the band Nirvana, a new born band in this era. What I felt was that the three figures in the picture was symbolic standing for different things. The cover of Nevermind shows a baby inside a pool staring at a dollar. The baby featured on the cover of Nirvana’s 1991 album “ Nevermind” is suing the band again, claiming that he was sexually exploited, although a California judge has previously dismissed his lawsuit on procedural grounds. The album cover clearly showed what they have meant.