Baby Chasing Dollars in Nirvana Album Sued by Band for 'Child Pornography'

Album jacket of "Nevermind" by American rock band Nirvana. Photo by Social Networking Service (SNS) capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Joo-hee] The so-called 'Nirvana Baby,' who appeared naked on the album cover of the American rock band Nirvana, has filed a lawsuit against the band members on charges of 'child sexual abuse.' This comes 30 years after the album's release, with claims that he has suffered lifelong pain due to the commercial use of his photo.

According to foreign media including the American daily The Washington Post (WP) on the 25th (local time), Spencer Elden (30), who was the cover model for the 1991 album Nevermind, filed a lawsuit at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, seeking damages of at least $150,000 (about 170 million KRW) per person.

The Nirvana band members sued are currently surviving members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic. Also named are Courtney Love, the wife of Kurt Cobain who died in 1994, photographer Kirk Weddle who shot the album cover, and Universal Music Group among 15 defendants. Along with this lawsuit, a suit was filed to prevent Nirvana from profiting financially from the Nevermind album.

According to WP, Elden's attorney expressed his client's suffering through the complaint. He stated, "Nirvana intentionally and commercially marketed child sexual exploitation material," and "They made Elden a scapegoat for music promotion and exploited his shocking image."

It is also known that Elden's parents received $200 (about 220,000 KRW) as 'model fees' at the time, but Elden's parents claim they never signed consent for the use of the album cover photo and did not receive any financial compensation. Above all, they also claim that Nirvana promised to cover Elden's genital area, but this promise was not kept.

Regarding this, NBC reported, "Non-sexual nude photos of infants are generally not considered child sexual exploitation material, but Elden's side argues that the cover made him a 'sex worker.'"

The controversial album cover Nevermind is Nirvana's second studio album released in 1991, featuring Elden at four months old swimming underwater naked, reaching for a one-dollar bill hooked on a fishing line. At the time, the album was interpreted as containing a critical message about capitalism and was ranked 7th in Billboard's list of the 50 greatest album covers of all time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.