‘Nirvana baby’s’ child porn lawsuit over Nevermind album cover is thrown out by judge
- Spencer Elden, now 30, says he was sexualised and made to look like a sex worker in the iconic image of a naked baby swimming towards a dollar bill
- He is seeking US$150,000 from the band’s surviving members, as well as Kurt Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, and a number of record companies
A judge has essentially said “nevermind” to a lawsuit brought by the so-called “Nirvana baby” who was featured on the rock band’s iconic Nevermind cover and who is now as old as the 30-year-old album.
US District Court Judge Fernando M. Olguin ordered on Monday that artist Spencer Elden’s child pornography lawsuit against Nirvana and its associates be dismissed after Elden missed a deadline to respond to a December motion to have it thrown out, according to an order reviewed by the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday.
In August, Elden – the naked baby swimming to a dollar-bill bait on the album cover – filed a US$150,000 federal lawsuit in California against the surviving members of Nirvana, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, as well as Kurt Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, who is the executor of his estate, and a number of record companies connected to the album.
The suit also named former Nirvana drummer Chad Channing, who was replaced by Grohl before the album was recorded and the cover photo was even shot.
Elden’s lawyer claimed that by featuring a then four-month-old Elden with his genitalia exposed, the defendants sexualised the child, and further claimed that by altering the image to include a dollar bill on a fish hook, they made him look “like a sex worker”.