Popular rock band Nirvana took over the charts following their breakout in 1987. The band, mostly known for singles such as “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Come As You Are,” and “Where Did you Sleep Last Night,” is being sued for sexual exploitation from their 1991 Nevermind album cover. The front of the iconic album features a naked newborn baby underwater, who is now a grown man and aiming at the rockband for “[failing] to protect and prevent him from being sexually exploited.”
30-year-old Spencer Elden says that the rock band said they would cover his genitals in the album cover and did not stick to that promise. Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album would sell at least 30 million copies worldwide and a break-in at the number 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 200.
According to court documents, “Defendants knowingly produced, possessed, and advertised commercial child pornography depicting Spencer, and they knowingly received value in exchange for doing so.”
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Elden’s attorney claims he suffered “permanent harm” due to his association with the album and a “lifelong loss of income-earning capacity.”
“He hasn’t met anyone who hasn’t seen his genitalia,” said his attorney, Maggie Mabie. “It’s a constant reminder that he has no privacy. His privacy is worthless to the world.”
Elden refers to the image as child pornography and asks for the group and Kurt Cobain’s estate to pay at least $150K each.
