The baby that adorns the cover of the Nirvana mega hit album Nevermind, is now all grown up and suing the band for Child Pornography. Spencer Elden alleges that he is the baby on the cover of the, now iconic, album cover. There is only one way to tell for sure. The photoshoot in question allegedly lasted 15 seconds and cost $200 and occurred in a Pasadena aquatic center in 31 years ago in 1990. No one knew at the time that this photo, allegedly of Spencer Elden, would become one of the most recognizable album covers ever. Another thing that no one knew, until now, is the identity of the baby. If it is in fact Spencer, and if nothing much has changed for poor Spencer since this photo was taken, we all need to support him.
On a serious note the details are as follows, Elden 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 suit, the defendants:
“knowingly produced, possessed, and advertised commercial child pornography depicting Spencer, and they knowingly received value in exchange for doing so. … Despite this knowledge, defendants failed to take reasonable steps to protect Spencer and prevent his widespread sexual exploitation and image trafficking.”
Elden claims that the band promised to cover his genitals with a sticker, which was never incorporated into the album art.
“To ensure the album cover would trigger a visceral sexual response from the viewer, Weddle activated Spencer’s ‘gag reflex’ before throwing him underwater in poses highlighting and emphasizing Spencer’s exposed genitals,” the complaint states. (Oh boy!)
The suit further alleges the defendants “used child pornography depicting Spencer 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.”
Elden is seeking damages of either $150,000 from each of the 17 defendants or unspecified damages to be determined at trial, attorney fees, an injunction to prohibit all parties “from continuing to engage in the unlawful acts and practices described herein,” and a trial by jury.
“The permanent harm he has proximately suffered includes but is not limited to extreme and permanent emotional distress with physical manifestations, interference with his normal development and educational progress, lifelong loss of income earning capacity, loss of past and future wages, past and future expenses for medical and psychological treatment, loss of enjoyment of life, and other losses to be described and proven at trial of this matter,” the lawsuit states.
“It’s a trip. Everyone involved in the album has tons and tons of money. I feel like I’m the last little bit of grunge rock. (Read that again) I’m living in my mom’s house and driving a Honda Civic.
“It’s hard not to get upset when you hear how much money was involved,” Elden added. “I go to a baseball game and think about it: ‘Man, everybody at this baseball game has probably seen my little baby penis,’ I feel like I got part of my human rights revoked.”
So sad.
