We Know The Baby On The Cover Of Nevermind Sues Nirvana, But Why Only Now?

Nevermind album cover featuring Elden (Source: Universal Music)

JAKARTA - Spencer Elden, a baby figure featured on the cover of Nirvana's 1991 album Nevermind, surprisingly sued Kurt Cobain and friends. The question arises, why is it only now that Elden is suing? After 30 years since the album's release.

In addition to Cobain, Elden also sued other Nirvana personnel, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic. A lawsuit was also filed against Kirk Weddle, who was the photographer for the album cover. Other parties implicated in Elden's lawsuit are designer Robert Fisher, Universal Music, Geffen Records, and former Nirvana drummer Chad Channing.

Citing Consequence, Elden admitted to being sexually exploited as a minor. Elden also admitted that he suffered losses throughout his life because of the artwork. Elden also admitted that he did not receive any compensation even though the album Nevermind was an extraordinary success. Now he is asking the defendants to pay a loss of 150 thousand US dollars each.

The photo was taken by Weddle in 1991 at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena, California. Elden was four months old at the time. Weddle paid Elden's parents $200 for an image, which was later altered to pursue Nirvana's vision for the album cover: showing a baby chasing a dollar linked on a hook.

"They're trying to create controversy because controversy sells... The point is not just to create a threatening image but to cross the line and they're doing it in a way that exposes Spencer so they can profit from it," said Elden's attorney, Mabbie, quoted by The New York Times.

Elden's attitude change

Ten years after the success of Nevermind, Elden has gone public and celebrated his involvement in the cover of the iconic classic. "It's cool but weird to be a part of something so important I can't even remember," he said in a 2016 interview with The New York Post.

One year earlier Elden had said in a documentary that his appearance on the album cover of Nevermind had opened up many career opportunities. One of them when he worked for Shepard Fairey, an artist known to have been sued by The Associated Press for using Barack Obama's image assets for his work entitled Hope.

Elden's lawyer, Mabbie explains Elden's change in attitude. Mabbie was right that Elden looked happy sometimes. Even Elden often agrees when bands, media outlets, and fans ask him to recreate the photo as an adult. But other times she realized it would only make her baby figure exploited further.

Nevermind album cover (Source: Wikipedia.org)

For years Elden expressed ambivalence about his image on the cover of Nevermind. He is not comfortable with his penis being displayed. In another interview, Elden had expressed his anger because there are still many people who talk about his penis. “It would be nice to have a quarter for every person who has seen my baby penis.”

Another moment that sparked Elden's disappointment was when he asked Nirvana to be part of his performing arts. Since then Elden's feelings about his contribution to the album Nevermind changed completely after being referred to Nirvana's manager or lawyer. "Why am I still on their cover if I don't really matter?"

“Recently I was thinking, 'What if I don't agree with my weird penis being shown to everyone?' I really had no choice," Elden told GQ Australia.

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