Nirvana under attack for one of its most iconic covers. 30 years after the release of Nevermind, the baby who posed naked in a swimming pool trying to grab a dollar bill, filed a complaint Tuesday, August 24 for child pornography in a California court.
Information revealed by Variety, who obtained the minutes. According to lawyer Spencer Elden, now 30, the photograph taken when he was four months old and showing his genitalia makes the baby appear “a sex worker”. In question, on the cover of the second album of the group, the infant is heading towards a banknote.
Yet perceived at the time as a critique of capitalism, photography therefore takes on another dimension according to his lawyer. In the record, he claims that “The accused intentionally marketed Spencer’s child pornography and took advantage of the shocking nature of his image to promote themselves and their music at his expense.”
150,000 dollars requested from each accused
In this context, Spencer Elden is now asking for 150,000 dollars in compensation, or nearly 128,000 euros, from each accused. And they are many. Besides the still living members of the group – Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic – Curt Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, is implicated. The photographer who took the snapshot of the discord, Kirk Weddle, as well as artistic director Robert Fisher and several record companies that distributed the album are also among the accused.
The baby featured on Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album cover recreated the iconic shot 25 years later https://t.co/B51fPwbCfU pic.twitter.com/y9vL6QEhJx
– New York Post (@nypost) September 25, 2016
The thirty-something, who has nevertheless regularly resumed the pose, dressed this time, over the anniversaries of the album – especially for the 10, 20 and 25 years of the release of this cult opus – has always maintained a special relationship with this photograph. of which he was the star in spite of himself.
At the time, his parents had received compensation of 200 dollars, or 170 euros for the shot. They had not signed an authorization to broadcast the image, according to Spencer Elden’s lawyer.