KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — The baby, who was photographed naked and used as the cover of Nirvana's 1991 Nevermind album, has filed a suit against lead singer Kurt Cobain's estate and the band's surviving members for child pornography.
New York Post reported that Spencer Eldon, now 30, filed a lawsuit saying the grunge pioneers violated federal child pornography statutes and sexually exploited him.
Eldon also claimed he suffered “lifelong damage” from having his naked body plastered on the triple-diamond selling album, and claims neither he nor his guardians consented to the naked photoshoot.
In the suit, Eldon claimed that the band, photographer, and record labels “intentionally marketed Spencer’s child pornography and leveraged the shocking nature of his image to promote themselves and their music at his expense”.
The plaintiff, who was four months old at the time of the underwater photoshoot, also claimed he was forced to engage in “commercial sex acts,” and that the band went back on an alleged promise to conceal his genitals on the album cover.
According to a 2008 report, Eldon's family was paid US$200 (RM842) for the 15-second plunge in the pool.
The photographer was a friend of Elden’s father.
Variety reported that the suit was filed in the US District Court’s central district of California and Eldon was seeking at least US$150,000 (RM632,000) from each of the defendants.
They include surviving band members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic; Courtney Love, the executor of Kurt Cobain’s estate; Guy Oseary and Heather Parry, managers of Cobain’s estate; photographer Kirk Weddle; art director Robert Fisher; and a number of existing or defunct record companies that released or distributed the album in the last three decades.
