Today is 30th anniversary of NIRVANA‘s Nevermind album and to celebrate, band is releasing new reissues.
And now, the lawyer for Spencer Elden — the man who was the naked baby on the album’s cover art — has once again publicly asked for Universal Music to stop using the cover art.
Elden‘s lawyer, Maggie Mable, stated to TMZ, that she’s demanding the Universal Music to censor the image of Elden‘s genitalia from all future album covers. Earlier this week, it was revealed that there will be 30th anniversary expanded and remastered reissues arriving in November. She added that with the anniversary and the reissues coming this week and in the coming months, Elden fears he’ll once again be subjected to public scorn and ridicule.
While Elden is reportedly fine with Universal pushing forward with plans to celebrate the album, he’s asking Universal to quit using the “naked baby” photo that adorns the cover.
As previously reported, Elden alleges the image of the baby reaching for a dollar in a swimming pool violated federal child p*rnography statutes and argues child sexual exploitation.
“The images exposed Spencer‘s intimate body part and lasciviously displayed Spencer’s genitals from the time he was an infant to the present day,” legal papers filed in California claim.
Elden claims that his parents never signed a release authorizing the use of the photos, which were taken in a Pasadena aquatic center in 1990. He alleges that the band promised to cover his genitals with a sticker, which was never incorporated into the album art.
“To ensure the album cover would trigger a visceral sexual response from the viewer, photographer Kirk Kirk Weddle activated Spencer‘s ‘gag reflex’ before throwing him underwater in poses highlighting and emphasizing Spencer‘s exposed genitals,” the complaint states.
The suit further alleges the defendants “used child p*rnography depicting Spencer as an essential element of a record promotion scheme commonly utilized in the music industry to get attention, wherein album covers posed children in a sexually provocative manner to gain notoriety, drive sales, and garner media attention, and critical reviews.”
Elden is seeking damages of either $150,000 from each of the 17 defendants or unspecified damages to be determined at trial, attorney fees, an injunction to prohibit all parties “from continuing to engage in the unlawful acts and practices described herein,” and a trial by jury.
Elden‘s parents were reportedly paid only $200 for the photos, and the shoot lasted around 15 seconds.
