Spencer Elden, Appearing nude on the cover of one of rock's most iconic albums, Nevermind, as an infant, is suing Nirvana, claiming that he was sexually exploited as a child.
In a lawsuit filed in California District Court against multiple parties, including the band's living members, Kurt Cobain's widow Courtney Love, and the record companies that released or distributed the album over the past three decades, Elden argues that the defendants should be considered producers of child pornography. This is a photo of Elden chosen for the cover of Nevermind, in which he swims naked to a dollar bill.
The lawsuit accuses the parties of “sexual exploitation of a child for commercial purposes from the moment he was a minor until the present «. According to the plaintiff, the defendants «knowingly produced, stored and advertised commercial child pornography featuring Spencer.»
Elden, who was four months old when the photo was taken, claims that he suffered “life-long damage” from the 1991 cover, including “tremendous and constant emotional stress,” and also lost the ability to “enjoy life.”/p>
According to the lawsuit, the image is «sexy» and makes Elden look like a «sex worker who grabs a dollar bill.» According to the plaintiff, Elden was also never paid to appear on the cover. Earlier it was reported that the man was paid $ 250.
Elden is seeking damages in the amount of at least $ 150 thousand from each of the 15 defendants and asks that the case be heard by a jury.
In 2016, the man recreated a famous photo for the New York Post to celebrate the album's 25th anniversary, noting, «It's cool, but it's weird to be part of something so important that I don't even remember.»
That same year, he said, «Recently I thought, 'What if I didn't want everyone to see my penis?' I had no choice then. »
In 2007, he told the Sunday Times that “it was creepy that a lot of people saw me naked. I feel like the biggest porn star in the world. ”
