Nirvana and Kurt Cobain’s estate have been sued over the cover art for the band’s 1991 albumNevermind, 30 years after its release.
“Defendants used child pornography 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,” the complaint read.
Reps for Nirvana, Grohl, Weddle and Cobain’s estate — including Cobain’s widow Courtney Love — did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Nirvana in the early ’90s.Everett
“To ensure the album cover would trigger a visceral sexual response from the viewer, Weddle activated Spencer’s ‘gag reflex’ before throwing him underwater in poses highlighting and emphasizing Spencer’s exposed genitals,” the complaint read.
Elden — who has a tattoo of “Nevermind” across his chest — toldTimein September 2016 that he was unsuccessful in a previous attempt to pursue legal action against Geffen Records over the album cover.
Frank Micelotta/Getty Images
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Elden also expressed frustration about never meeting any members of the band or receiving compensation forNevermind, which has sold over 30 million copies worldwide.
“I got a little upset for a bit,” Elden said. “I was trying to reach out to these people. I never met anybody. I didn’t get a call or email. I just woke up already being a part of this huge project. It’s pretty difficult — you feel like you’re famous for nothing, but you didn’t really do anything buttheiralbum.”
He also toldGQof his association with the album, “It’s f—d up. I’m pissed off about it, to be honest.”.
“I’ve been going through it my whole life,” he added. “But recently I’ve been thinking, ‘What if I wasn’t OK with my freaking penis being shown to everybody?’ I didn’t really have a choice.”
“[He] calls us up and was like, ‘Hey Rick, wanna make 200 bucks and throw your kid in the drink?,'” his dadRick told NPRin 2008, referring to his photographer friend Weddle. “I was like, ‘What’s up?’ And he’s like, ‘Well, I’m shooting kids all this week, why don’t you meet me at the Rose Bowl, throw your kid in the drink?’ And we just had a big party at the pool, and no one had any idea what was going on!”
source: people.com
