Spencer Elden, who on the cover of Nirvana's 1991 album "Nevermind," has claimed the record's iconic artwork is child pornography and is suing the band over alleged "child sexual exploitation."
The rock album's cover features Elden, then an infant, swimming underwater while undressed, his eyes fixated on a one dollar bill. It became one of the most enduring images in rock music after the record's release.
But in a complaint, filed on Tuesday at a federal court in California and obtained by CNN, Elden's attorneys said the image was pornographic and that he has suffered "lifelong damages" as a result of his involvement.
Elden, now 30, has listed the surviving band members, the executors of lead singer Kurt Cobain's estate, and various record labels as defendants. He is seeking US$150,000 in damages from each of the defendants, plus legal costs, and alleges the defendants "knowingly produced, possessed, and advertised commercial child pornography."
The lawsuit alleges Elden was sexualized because the dollar bill used in the image made the baby resemble "a sex worker."
Elden has recreated the image at times during his adulthood, but has also suggested in interviews he felt uncomfortable about the popularity of the album cover.
In 2007 the Sunday Times he found it "kind of creepy that many people have seen me naked ... I feel like the world's biggest porn star." The following year that he was often asked to attend events as the "Nirvana baby."
"Nevermind" and its lead single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" sold millions of copies and helped popularize grunge music in the United States. Both its content and artwork were heralded as seminal rock works, but three years after its release, Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain died by suicide in Seattle and the remaining members subsequently disbanded.
Elden in 2008: "Rumor had it that Cobain had the original concept of wanting to show a mother giving birth under water." Elden added: "But the compromise was to have a baby swimming under water. Or so that's what I was told."
The lawsuit alleges Elden "has been and will continue to suffer personal injury by the distribution and possession of child pornography," including emotional distress and loss of earnings.
Cobain's wife, the singer Courtney Love, is listed on the lawsuit as an executor of Cobain's estate, alongside others including the photographer Kirk Weddle and record labels Warner Records and the Universal Music Group. CNN has contacted each party for comment.
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Israeli strikes on residential areas in southern Gaza killed 38 people on Friday, Palestinian health officials said, including 13 children from the same extended family.
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A New Mexico judge has upheld her decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
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Natural gas producers in Western Canada have white-knuckled it through months of depressed prices, with the expectation that their fortunes will improve when LNG Canada comes online in the middle of next year.
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A Saskatchewan woman is worried her child might die before receiving life-saving surgery and tests as he sits on the province's surgical waitlist.
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A 15-year veteran officer with the South Simcoe Police Service has been charged with discreditable conduct following an allegation of sexual assault.
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The Windsor Police Service is investigating a suspicious death in south-central Windsor.
A Harrow school is memorializing two students and their mother, who were tragically killed in June.
With Halloween just around the corner, there are plenty of spooktacular events in Windsor-Essex this weekend.
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A Canadian navy missile test was aborted mid-flight this week after controllers lost communication with the projectile off the coast of southern California.
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Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.
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The union that represents hospital workers across the province is used a symbol from Greek mythology Friday in Espanola to drive home its campaign about the perils of privatization in health care.
CTV's Coats for Kids is nearing the end of its donation window, with the need as strong as it鈥檚 ever been.
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