Back in August of 2021, a lawsuit was brought upon Nirvana by Spencer Elden (who happens to have been the baby on the cover of the band’s record Nevermind). Elden aimed to sue the band for child pornography and sexual exploitation, saying that the cover has caused him “lifelong damages.” Elden also added that 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.”
The defendants in this case involve Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Courtney Love, some record labels, and photographer Kirk Weddle.
Speaking to his involvement regarding the Nevermind album cover, Elden shared the following in a 2016 interview, “Recently I’ve been thinking, ‘What if I wasn’t OK with my freaking penis being shown to everybody?’ I didn’t really have a choice.”
Come January 2022, the judge overseeing the case, Fernando M. Olguin, dismissed the lawsuit. However, Elden was provided the chance to amend his case (which he did). This amendment involved “undated journal entries” from the late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain (which allegedly include graphic concept ideas pertaining to the Nevermind album cover).
But, as of September 3rd, and reported by Reuters, Nirvana have won the dismissal pertaining to this case. Judge Olguin shared that Elden waited too long to claim that the band had sexually exploited him. Since the beginning of this lawsuit, Elden has filed three different versions of his compliant – this new dismissal prevents him from filing a fourth.
Bert Deixler, a lawyer for the defendants, shared the following comment: “We are pleased that this meritless case has been brought to a speedy final conclusion.”
Per Reuters, Elden’s lawyer did not respond immediately to provide a comment. But as it stands right now with this information, it seems that this lawsuit has come to an end.
‘Nevermind’ Baby Amends Lawsuit, Includes Kurt Cobain’s Obscene Album Cover Notes from Journals