Nirvana Responds to Refiling of ‘Nevermind’ Album Cover Lawsuit
Nirvana has seemingly had it with Spencer Elden, the now-grown man who appeared on the cover of 1991’s Nevermind when he was a baby.
As previously reported, Elden refiled his child pornography lawsuit against the band and other various parties over his appearance on the Nevermind cover after the lawsuit was dismissed just days into 2022.
In response to the refiling, Rolling Stone reports that the lawyer representing Nirvana and co. have asked that this lawsuit be dismissed with prejudice, which means Elden will be barred from trying to refile this lawsuit again.
The motion states, “For Elden, this is strike three. This case must end.” Rolling Stone also reports, “In their new dismissal motion, Nirvana’s lawyers said Elden’s second amended complaint failed to ‘identify any new victimization’ that Elden ‘reasonably discovered for the first time after August 2011.'”
Elden's initial lawsuit identified at defendants Nirvana and other parties (including Courtney Love) on child pornography charges. The suit also included music managers Guy Oseary and Heather Parry, who manage Cobain’s estate; photographer Kirk Weddle; art director Robert Fisher; Nirvana’s original drummer Chad Channing (who Grohl replaced for Nevermind) and a couple of record companies (including some that are no longer in business).
When Nirvana formally responded to the first filing of this lawsuit, they made a number of damming points against Elden’s claims including, “Elden has spent three decades profiting from his celebrity as the self-anointed ‘Nirvana Baby.’ He has re-enacted the photograph in exchange for a fee, many times; he has had the album title’Nevermind’ tattooed across his chest; he has appeared on a talk show wearing a self-parodying, nude-colored onesie; he has autographed copies of the album cover for sale on eBay; and he has used the connection to try to pick up women.”