Nirvana 'Nevermind' baby adds new claims to lawsuit against band
Spencer Elden is suing Nirvana for child sexual exploitation
Last updated 23rd Nov 2021
Spencer Elden, who appeared on Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ cover in 1991 as a four-month-old baby, has reportedly updated his lawsuit against the band.
30-year-old Elden filed a complaint at Los Angeles federal court back in August alleging that the image of himself chasing a dollar bill on the ‘Nevermind’ artwork is child sexual exploitation and violates federal child pornography statutes.
Rolling Stone reports that Elden has added fresh claims to his updated complaint, which was filed by lawyer Robert Lewis on Monday (22nd November).
According to Rolling Stone, the papers allege that the photographer behind the ‘Nevermind’ artwork, Kirk Weddle, also took pictures of the baby (Spencer Elden) styled to look like late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.
The amended lawsuit says Weddle intended to “trigger a visceral sexual response from the viewer” with the image by triggering “Spencer’s ‘gag reflex’ before throwing him underwater and took photos that highlighted and emphasized Spencer’s exposed genitals.”
The papers add: “Weddle soon after produced photographs of Spencer dressed up and depicted as Hugh Hefner.”
Another amendment quotes Kurt Cobain’s personal journals, which were published by Riverhead Books in 2002 eight years after the rock legend’s death.
“In several instances,” the suit reads, “the journals describe Cobain’s twisted vision for the Never mind (sic) album cover, along with his emotional struggles.”
Original Nirvana drummer Chad Channing, who left the band in 1990 a year before the release of ‘Nevermind’, has been dropped as a defendant in the case.
The lawsuit names various defendants including Weddle, various record companies, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Courtney Love as executor of the Kurt Cobain’s estate.
In the suit, Elden alleges he has suffered and continues to suffer ‘lifelong damages’ as a result of the album cover, and says 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.”
Elden previously recreated the ‘Nevermind’ album cover when he was 17 in 2008, and again aged 25 in 2016.
Speaking in 2016, he said of the 25th anniversary of ‘Nevermind’: “The anniversary means something to me. It’s strange that I did this for five minutes when I was four months old and it became this really iconic image.”
“It’s cool but weird to be part of something so important that I don’t even remember.”
However, in an interview with GQ Australia in 2016, Elden called the fact that people still talk about the ‘Nevermind’ cover “f---ed up.” He added: “I’m pissed off about it, to be honest.”
Nirvana's Kurt Cobain through the years:
Kurt’s childhood home in Aberdeen, Washington
His parents Wendy and Donald Cobain bought the house in 1969 when Kurt was two and he lived there until they separated when he was nine.
Kurt with younger sister by three years Kimberly in the mid 1970s
Kurt celebrates a childhood birthday with his family
Kurt and Kimberly stand outside their Aberdeen home
When their parents split in 1976, Kurt went to live with his father and Kim lived with her mother.
Showcasing an early talent for music, Kurt plays piano at his childhood home
Kurt’s attic bedroom pictured in 2013
More than a quarter of a century after Kurt last habited the room, his graffiti – including an Iron Maiden logo – still adorns the walls.
Led Zeppelin graffiti Kurt penned on his bedroom wall
An Aberdeen Junior High School photo of a young Kurt Cobain
A teenage Kurt at his Washington home
Kurt playing guitar in his attic room
His walls are decorated with Black Flag and hardcore punk band Dr. Know gig posters.
May 1986: Kurt was arrested aged 19
He was arrested for trespassing on an abandoned building in Market Street, Aberdeen. He was also arrested a year earlier for spray painting on pick-up trucks.
1991: Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl in London
August 1991: Nirvana perform at Reading Festival
September 1991: A 'Nevermind' launch show at New York’s Tower Records
5th November 1991: Kurt onstage at Nirvana’s sold-out gig at The Astoria Theatre in London
November 1991: Kurt crowdsurfing in Frankfurt, Germany
1991: Kurt at Hilversum Studios, Holland
1991: Kurt at Hilversum Studios, Holland
August 1992: The Kerrang! Magazine cover featured a very sombre Kurt
It included a play on The Smiths lyrics 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now'.
December 1993: A second Kerrang! Magazine cover
16 months later and the tone of the cover is very different with the title: 'Hugs Not Drugs! Kurt Gets Happy!'.
1992: Kurt performing live in a maid’s outfit
1992: Nirvana at the MTV Video Music Awards
August 1992: Nirvana’s legendary Reading Festival performance
9th April 1993: Kurt on-stage with Nirvana at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California
Appearing alongside L7 and The Breeders, the gig was a Bosnian Rape Victim Benefit.
July 1993: Performing at the Roseland Ballroom, New York
1993: Kurt with his wife Courtney Love and one-year-old daughter Frances Bean at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles
Kurt and Courtney married in Hawaii in March 1992 with Kurt infamously wearing his pyjamas to the ceremony!
1993: Kurt at the MTV VMAs ceremony, Los Angeles
1993: At the 10th annual MTV Video Music Awards
Nirvana pose with director Kevin Kerslake after receiving an award for best alternative video for 'In Bloom' at the 10th annual MTV Video Music Awards.
Kurt pretends to pick his nose with daughter Frances Bean
November 1993: Recording Nirvana’s legendary MTV Unplugged session
December 1993: Performing at MTV Live and Loud, Seattle
February 1994: Live at The Palace, Melbourne
25th February 1994: Nirvana live at Palatrussardi indoor arena in Milan Italy
Their last ever gig took place at Terminal 1 in Munich, Germany six days later.
April 1994: Kurt Cobain dies
171 Lake Washington Blvd East Seattle, Washington, the site of Cobain's death.
16th April 1994: The Kerrang! Magazine cover, 11 days after the Nirvana’s legend’s untimely death
The Sonic Youth t-shirt Kurt wore at Nirvana’s final live performance in Munich, March 1994
The garment was auctioned at the Hard Rock Café in London in July 2012.
2011: A small park in Aberdeen was named ‘Kurt Cobain Landing’ in Kurt’s honour
This plaque quoting Something In The Way lyrics overlooks the Wishkah River.