On September 2, a judge in California, United States, dismissed a lawsuit for child pornography filed by the baby-turned-adult, Spencer Elden, who appears nude on the cover of the iconic Nirvana album, never mind (1991).
Spencer, 31, alleged that her appearance on the cover of never mind constituted “child sexual abuse”. However, Los Angeles Judge Fernando Olguín wrote in an eight-page ruling that Spencer Elden waited too long to file the lawsuit, alleging that Nirvana sexually exploited him, based on a ten-year statute of limitations.
After the ruling was announced, one of Nirvana’s attorneys, Bert Deixler, told Reuters:
We are pleased that this meritless case has come to a speedy final conclusion.
At the end of August 2021, a month before the 30th anniversary of the album’s release, Spencer filed a first complaint, followed by a second in January 2022 after a first rejection for other reasons, claiming to be a victim of “commercial exploitation of images in the nature of child pornography.
Photographed in 1991, at the age of four months, the young man appears naked in a swimming pool on the cover of never mind, staring at a dollar bill pierced with a fish hook. With titles like Smells Like Teen Spiritthe legendary album sold more than 30 million copies, becoming a benchmark of the grungy.
The plaintiff, who said that he never received financial compensation for the photo, also assured that his parents did not give permission to use his image in that way, for which he demanded 150 thousand dollars in damages from the 15 people he was suing, including former Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, as well as Courtney Love, the widow of the late singer Kurt Cobain, and photographer Kirk Weddle.
In a statement responding to the complaint filed, the defendants’ attorneys argued instead that “Elden has spent three decades enjoying his stardom as the self-proclaimed ‘Baby Nirvana.'”
He reproduced the photo for remuneration numerous times, got the album title ‘Nevermind’ tattooed on his chest, autographed copies of the album cover to sell on eBay. In addition, she used this bond with the group to try to conquer women.
In 2008, the Elden family told NPR that Kirk Weddle was a friend of Spencer’s father. In addition, he revealed that they had organized a pool party in which Spencer was photographed underwater for the then unknown group. His parents were paid $200 for this image.