Lawsuit Filed by Infant Featured on ‘Nevermind’ Album Against Nirvana

If you have even a slight interest in music, you are likely familiar with Nirvana’s 1991 album, “Nevermind.” Opening with the track “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” it’s a remarkable record. Beyond the music, the album is renowned for its cover art, showcasing a photo of a unclothed infant in a pool reaching for a dollar bill. That infant, Spencer Elden, now 30 years old, has recently become discontented with his depiction on the album.

Elden has initiated legal action against Nirvana, contending that the use of his infant image on the “Nevermind” album cover constitutes child exploitation, citing his partial nudity. The lawsuit asserts that “the images revealed Spencer’s private body parts and lewdly exhibited Spencer’s genitalia from infancy to the present day.”

Though pictures of naked babies are typically not considered obscene, Elden’s attorney, Robert Y. Lewis, argues that the addition of a currency note in the photo suggests a questionable undertone. Furthermore, Elden claims that his parents never authorized the use of the image, and Nirvana allegedly failed to fulfill a promised act of concealing his lower body with a sticker.

Nirvana sued by the baby from Nevermind’s album cover https://t.co/YAJH6BY1HN

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Elden expresses that his “real identity and legal name will forever be associated with the commercial sexual exploitation he faced as a minor, which has been globally distributed and marketed since infancy until now.”

He further states that the album has led to enduring harm, including “severe and lasting emotional suffering,” disruption in normal growth and learning, and the need for medical and mental health care.

Elden is requesting $150,000 in compensation from the band and their representatives. Nirvana has not issued any response to the allegations at this time.