The original lawsuit also alleged that the marketing of the record via a naked Elden reaching for a dollar bill held on a hook - the image was also used in the video clip for the hit single from the album, 'Come As You Are' - was a 'sex trafficking venture.' He first attempted to sue the original band members, record label, album photographer and others (each for $150,000, or €128,000) for 'lifelong damages' that include 'extreme and permanent emotional distress with physical manifestations, interference with his normal development and educational progress, lifelong loss of income earning capacity' and 'loss of enjoyment of life.' A judge dismissed that case on January 3.Įlden has now filed a new lawsuit accusing the band of sexual exploitation. 'Commercial sexual acts'īut 30 years after the album's release, Elden's lawyers in August 2021 filed a lawsuit alleging that the 'Nevermind' image was procured after Elden 'was forced to engage in commercial sexual acts while under the age of 18 years old.' When the boy, Spencer Elden, was snapped naked in the water and wound up front-and-center on the band's groundbreaking 'Nevermind'album, his likeness became the epoch-defining image of grunge rock. In 1991, photographer Kirk Weddle asked a friend to bring his four-month-old baby to a photo shoot at a swimming pool for the indie band Nirvana.

Nirvana nevermind cover art