30 years later, the baby on Nirvana's Nevermind cover is suing for damages - Spencer Elden is seeking upwards of $150,000 in damages for the album ...
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
SUBSCRIBE SIGN IN OH WELL, WHATEVER — 30 years later, the baby on Nirvana’s Nevermind cover is suing for damages Spencer Elden is seeking upwards of $150,000 in damages for the album cover. ANDREW CUNNINGHAM - 8/25/2021, 5:36 PM
DGC Records
Enlarge / Nirvana's Nevermind album cover.
Nirvana's 1991 album Nevermind is widely credited with bringing alternative and grunge rock into the
mainstream, but now it's in the news for another reason. Spencer Elden, the adult who was the baby depicted
swimming naked on the album's cover, has filed a lawsuit on the grounds that the photo violated various
federal child pornography laws.
The suit, posted here in its entirety, names (among others) DGC Records and its parent companies; Courtney
Love and the estate of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain; then-band members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl;
and Chad Channing, a drummer who had left Nirvana the year before Nevermind was released but whosework on the album has been credited in later reissues. The suit is seeking "the actual damages [Spencer] has
[sustained], or liquidated damages in the amount of $150,000, and the cost of the action."
According to Spencer's father, Rick Elden, the family was paid $200 to throw 4-month-old Spencer into a pool
for "half a second" so he could be shot by photographer Kirk Weddle (also named in the suit). The dollar bill
on the fish-hook was added after the fact; the suit claims that the baby is grabbing for the dollar bill "like a sex
worker," which together with the exposed penis forms the basis of the suit's claim that the image is "sexually
explicit."
Advertisement
As an adult, Spencer Elden has been more than willing to give interviews and recreate the album cover. He
was paid $1,000 to recreate the photo as a 17-year-old in 2008, and he earned another $200 from the New
York Post to recreate the cover for the album's 25th anniversary (complete with a "Nevermind" tattoo across
his chest).
"Stuff happens like random cool situations where I get paid $500 just to go hang out," Elden said in 2008. He
also mentioned getting an internship with artist Shepard Fairey as a result of a radio interview he gave about
the album.
But Elden's relationship with the photo and the album's success is complicated. As far back as 2008, he told
MTV News that "it's kind of creepy [to think] that that many people have seen me naked. I feel like I'm the
world's biggest porn star." And in an interview with Time for the album's 25th anniversary, he said, "[When] 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."
Perhaps more relevant for this lawsuit, Elden has also expressed a longstanding frustration with being
excluded from the album's success. The Time interview mentions that he had pursued but didn't follow
through with earlier legal action against Geffen Records, saying that "it's hard not to get upset when you hear
how much money was involved."
READER COMMENTS 287 SHARE THIS STORYANDREW CUNNINGHAM
Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica with over a decade of experience in consumer tech,
covering everything from PCs to Macs to smartphones to game consoles. His work has appeared in the New York
Times' Wirecutter and AnandTech. He also records a weekly book podcast called Overdue.
TWITTER @AndrewWrites
Advertisement
Unsolved Mysteries Of
Quantum Leap With
Donald P. Bellisario
Unsolved Mysteries Of
Warhammer 40K With
We're sorry, something went Author Dan Abnett
wrong.
Steve Burke of
GamersNexus Reacts To
Unsolved Mysteries Of Quantum Leap With Their Top 1000
Comments On YouTube
Donald P. Bellisario
Today "Quantum Leap" series creator Donald P. Bellisario
joins Ars Technica to answer once and for all the lingering
Modern Vintage Gamer
Reacts To His Top 1000
questions we have about his enduringly popular show.
Was Dr. Sam Beckett really leaping between all those time
Comments On YouTube
periods and people or did he simply imagine it all? What
do people in the waiting room do while Sam is in their
How The NES Conquered
bodies? What happens to Sam's loyal ally Al? 30 years A Skeptical America In
following the series finale, answers to these mysteries andmore await. + More videos
← PREVIOUS STORY NEXT STORY →
Related Stories
Today on Ars
STORE CONTACT US NEWSLETTER SIGNUP
SUBSCRIBE STAFF Join the Ars Orbital Transmission
ABOUT US ADVERTISE WITH US mailing list to get weekly updates
RSS FEEDS REPRINTS delivered to your inbox.
VIEW MOBILE SITE
SIGN ME UP →
CNMN Collection
WIRED Media Group
© 2021 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User
Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1/20) and Ars Technica Addendum (effective
8/21/2018). Ars may earn compensation on sales from links on this site. Read our affiliate link policy.
Your California Privacy Rights | Cookies Settings
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written
permission of Condé Nast.
Ad ChoicesYou can also read
