Entertainment
Dave Grohl addresses Nirvana baby lawsuit: ‘I have to disagree’
Dave insisted he disagrees with the suit ‘like most people’ (Picture: PA)
Foo Fighters legend Dave Grohl has admitted he’s ‘not spent too much time thinking about’ the lawsuit brought by the famous ‘Nirvana baby’ who starred on the cover of the band’s album Nevermind.
Spender Elden was four months old when he appeared on the cover of the 1991 album, swimming naked in a pool following a dollar bill on a hook, and is now suing the band for ‘sexual exploitation’.
The 30-year-old claims his parents didn’t sign a release authorising the use of the image on the cover and alleges the cover violates federal child pornography statutes.
Elden is suing 15 defendants including Nirvana’s surviving members, drummer Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain’s former wife Courtney Love and his estate, as well as the record labels behind the album for $150,000 (£109,000) each, alleging that he could not consent to being pictured for the artwork, and claims he has suffered ‘lifelong damages’.
Addressing the suit this week, the Heart-Shaped Box group’s former drummer has insisted he disagrees ‘like most people’.
Grohl told Vulture: ‘I don’t know that I can speak on it because I haven’t spent too much time thinking about it. I feel the same way most people do in that I have to disagree. That’s all I’ll say.’
The Nevermind cover is one of music’s most iconic album covers
Quizzed on whether Eden should re-shoot the photo, he replied: ‘Listen, he’s got a Nevermind tattoo. I don’t.’
The Foo Fighters star’s latest comments on the ongoing legal battle come after the 52-year-old musician hinted the cover could change.
He said: ‘I have many ideas of how we should alter that cover but we’ll see what happens. We’ll let you know. I’m sure we’ll come up with something good.’
Grohl added: ‘I think that there’s much more to look forward to and much more to life than getting bogged down in those kinds of things. And, fortunately, I don’t have to do the paperwork.’
In documents obtained by TMZ and Pitchfork, Elden is suing for distribution of private sexually explicit materials, negligence, and what is being described as an alleged ‘sex trafficking venture’ where Elden ‘was forced to engage in commercial sexual acts while under the age of 18 years old’.
Although US law doesn’t typically consider non-sexualised pictures of infants as child pornography, Eden’s lawyer Robert Y. Lewis argued that the superimposed dollar bill makes the baby seem ‘like a sex worker’.
It has also been alleged that the group promised to cover his genitals with a sticker, but this wasn’t upheld.
Elden has claimed he has ‘suffered and will continue to suffer lifelong damages’ because of the artwork.
As well as ‘extreme and permanent emotional distress’, he also claims to have faced ‘interference with his normal development and educational progress’ and received ‘medical and psychological treatment’.
The LP is one of the band’s most iconic records, and boasting the hit singles Smells Like Teen Spirit and Come As You Are.
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Nirvana are reissuing the landmark album to mark its 30th anniversary, and Eden has requested that the image be censored and all future releases altered.
The deluxe edition of Nevermind is released on November 12, and the artwork on the band’s website for pre-orders is the original cover.
MORE : Dave Grohl admits turning off Nirvana’s music for years: ‘I didn’t want to hear that’
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