Spencer Elden, the baby of ‘Nevermind’, has Nirvana case rejected

A California judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by Spencer Elden, the baby on Nirvana’s “Nevermind” record, who accused the band of sexually exploiting him when he was just 4 months old, in 1991.

According to The Guardian newspaper, Elden’s lawyers missed the deadline to file an opposition to the band’s December request to close the case based on what they called the plaintiff’s unsubstantiated arguments. Thus, the process was dismissed. Now, Elden’s team has until January 13 to restock.

For much of 2021, Spencer Elden was demanding that his image as a child be removed from the album cover in future releases. According to TMZ, Universal Music intended to publicize several reissues of the project, which would have annoyed Elden, who appears on the cover naked going after a dollar bill.

Her lawyer, Maggie Mabie, told the publication that “it’s time to end child exploitation and violation of privacy.” She claims that every year Elden suffers from a barrage of comments about the cover that makes him uncomfortable and that it would be child pornography.

On the other hand, attorneys for the band’s estate claim that Elden “spent three decades cashing in like a celebrity”, recreating the image on the album’s 15th and 20th anniversaries and tattooing the album title on his chest. He liked being “Nirvana’s baby”.

The lawsuit has 15 defendants, including the widow of vocalist Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, and the record company that released and distributed the record. In 2016, when it turned 25, the album “Nevermind” had sold more than 30 million copies since its release.

Spencer Elden was seeking damages of $150,000 (equivalent to R$851,000 at current quotes) from each party for “commercial child sexual exploitation from when Elden was a minor to the present day,” the defense says.