Not The Onion: ‘Nirvana Baby’ Sues for Child Porn
The naked baby from Nirvana’s iconic 1991 “Nevermind” album cover is all grown up and suing the band.
WHAT HAPPENED
In California district court Tuesday, Spencer Elden sued Nirvana’s living members, late frontman Kurt Cobain and others alleging “child sexual abuse.”
Spencer Elden, the baby on the cover of Nirvana’s “Nevermind,” is suing Nirvana for at least $150,000 for “child sexual exploitation.” ?
THIS Spencer Elden, right here. The one who has spent his whole life relishing the fame. He must be hard up for cash. Fuck him. pic.twitter.com/fbmzyAFNA1
— Brad Preston (@bradpreston) August 25, 2021
Elden’s lawyer called the “Nevermind” photo shoot of his then-infant client nude in a pool a “sex trafficking venture” and demanded “damages arising out of each of the Defendant’s violations of federal criminal child pornography statut[e]s.”
- Elden is alleging “permanent harm” from the experience, for which his mother was reportedly paid $200 at the time.
- He is seeking at least $150,000 in damages, per TMZ,
Elden — who has “Nevermind” tattooed on his chest — has repeatedly posed as the “Nirvana baby” over the years even as he has expressed mixed emotions about the role to interviewers:
- To the Independent in 2008: “Quite a few people in the world have seen my penis. It’s kind of cool, I guess. … I feel like I’m the world’s biggest porn star.”
- To GQ in 2016: “I’ve been going through it my whole life. But 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.”
- To the New York Post in 2016: “It’s cool but weird to be part of something so important that I don’t even remember.”
- To Time in 2016: “It’s hard not to get upset when you hear how much money was involved. … “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.”