Nirvana hit back at Nevermind baby in official statement stating “He has been fully aware of the facts”

Nirvana have filed an official response to Nevermind Baby Spencer Elden after he sued the band for the image saying it is “commercial child sexual exploitation.”

Representatives for the grunge band have issued a statement saying that it “is not serious” and is beyond the statute of limitations. The lawsuit would only apply 10 years within him finding out he was the baby on the album art — the group rejected the idea that he only found out in the last decade.

“The Nevermind cover photograph was taken in 1991,” the statement read, as Billboard reported. “It was world-famous by no later than 1992. Long before 2011, as Elden has pled, Elden knew about the photograph and knew that he (and not someone else) was the baby in the photograph.”

“He has been fully aware of the facts of both the supposed ‘violation’ and ‘injury’ for decades.”

The statement also referenced how Elden has celebrated his appearance on the iconic cover. “Elden has spent three decades profiting from his celebrity as the self-anointed ‘Nirvana Baby’,” the band’s representatives claimed.

Elden has recreated the image a number of times and also has Nevermind tattooed across his chest.

“A brief examination of the photograph, or Elden’s own conduct (not to mention the photograph’s presence in the homes of millions of Americans who, on Elden’s theory, are guilty of felony possession of child pornography) makes that clear,” they wrote.

30-year-old Elden is suing the band for the image where he appears naked in a swimming pool chasing a dollar bill. Elden said that he has suffered “lifelong damages” from the cover art and said that it is child pornography.

Elden filed the original lawsuit in August this year seeking $150,000 (€132,000) from Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain’s estate, album artwork photographer Kirk Weddle and designer Robert Fisher. He also named the label who released the record, Geffen records and Universal in the lawsuit.

Amendments were made to the lawsuit in November where Elden alleged he had been styled and photographed as Hugh Hefner. In the amended claim, he removed former Nirvana drummer Chad Channing from the suit and cited new journal entries from Kurt Cobain which includes a “sketch [of] the album cover in a sexual manner, with semen all over it.”

Along with damages, Elden wants the album art to be altered for future reissues of the record. “If there is a 30th-anniversary re-release, he wants for the entire world not to see his genitals,” said his lawyer Maggie Mabie. A 30th anniversary edition of the record was reissued in November with original cover art.

Grohl has spoken before about how the cover art could be changed depending on the results of the suit. “We’ll let you know,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll come up with something good.”

Many legal experts claim the case is likely to be dismissed. Entertainment litigation Bryan Sullivan told The Hollywood Reporter that Elden’s claim that there being no release form “does not mean he has a claim for child pornography.”

“As to the right of privacy, you can waive it by your actions or by his parents’ actions in allowing him to be photographed,” he added.

Entertainment lawyer Andrew Brettler said that Elden’s past actions might damage his case:

“What I think really damns their case is the fact that this kid sat for all these interviews and re-created the album art,” he said.