Spencer Elden, a 30-year-man who was the baby seen on the Nirvana's "Nevermind" album cover in 1991, has been dragged by fans. Elder is suing Nirvana and the estate of Kurt Cobain for "trafficking" his image for profit, and causing "lifelong damages."
Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle in 1994. Elden said in court docs reviewed by CBSLA, 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.
In the suit filed in a Los Angeles federal court, Elden said his parents never gave their release in writing for the photos, and were not paid. The image was snapped in 1990 at the Pasadena aquatic center when the Los Angeles native was four-months-old. The famous album cover, which late lead singer Kurt Cobain picked out, shows a naked baby swimming underwater toward a dollar bill on a string.
Elden's legal team said in the suit that "to ensure the album cover would trigger a visceral sexual response from the viewer, (photographer Kirk) Weddle activated Spencer’s 'gag reflex' before throwing him underwater in poses highlighting and emphasizing Spencer’s exposed genitals."
The suit goes on to state: "as an essential element of a record promotion scheme commonly utilized in the music industry to get attention, wherein album covers posed children in a sexually provocative manner to gain notoriety, drive sales, and garner media attention, and critical reviews."
According to Elden, the 90's grunge band had promised that a sticker would be placed on the area of his genitals, but it never occurred. Elden is asking for $150,000 from each of 17 defendants named in the suit - much to the disgust of Nirvana fans.
"Took him 30 years to figure this out ? Money grab," one person wrote online. "Umm, sue your parents dude. They signed on your behalf," a second added. "Tell me you are broke and a loser without telling me you are broke and a loser," a third commented.
"This guy has done many interviews in the past of how awesome it was to be the baby on the album. he now looks and sounds like a drug addict that can't hold a job and what's easy money. This guy is a disgrace. Any person would of loved to be the baby on one of the most iconic album covers," a fan wrote online.
"Good god. Get a job loser. The attorneys who take these cases should be disbarred," a comment read.
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