Fallon talks about the Nirvana baby lawsuit.
Nirvana’s second studio album Nevermind has been vastly known for bringing grunge and alternative rock to a mainstream audience. As one of the most popular bands of the 1990s, Nirvana’s Nevermind album has had its fair share of commercial success. Kurt Cobain became a ‘90s icon after releasing Nevermind on a major label, and having the hit song "Smells Like Teen Spirit” completely dominate MTV. Arguably, Nirvana’s Nevermind has been deemed as one of the best albums of all time.
It’ is safe to say that most people have seen the Nevermind album cover, even if they don’t know it. The artwork featured on the album cover includes a naked baby swimming in a pool, along with a dollar bill on a fishhook. To some, the album cover is considered to be controversial due to the fact the infant's genitalia is visible. In response to this, NBC states that Kurt Cobain offered to compromise by covering the exposed area with a sticker that read, “If you’re offended by this, you must be a closeted pedophile.” However, years later, the Nirvana baby himself had something to say about the matter. Spencer Eden claimed the album cover violated federal child pornography and, according to The New York Times, one of his lawyers used the argument, “He hasn’t met anyone who hasn’t seen his genitalia,” she said. “It's a constant reminder that he has no privacy. His privacy is worthless to the world.”
Nirvana Nevermind album cover, photo from Apple Music
Spencer Eden, photo by New York Times
Spencer Eden filed a lawsuit against Weddle, Kurt Cobain’s estate, Dave Grohl, and Krist Novoselic, claiming that the image of him was put on the album cover without his or his legal guardians' consent. Eden also wrote that “Cobain chose the image depicting Spencer—like a sex worker—grabbing for a dollar bill that is positioned dangling from a fishhook in front of his nude body with his penis explicitly displayed.” Inevitably, the lawsuit was dismissed and it was stated that the album cover instead “evokes themes of greed, innocence, and the motif of the cherub in western art.” It was evident to the court that Eden was only seeking money in regards to his lawsuit.
Nirvana’s Nevermind holds the legacy of commercializing the Seattle grunge movement and bringing the genre to the mainstream. Not only Nevermind, but the grunge movement as a whole, had a highly significant impact on youth culture. It brought up ideals such as the tolerance of difference, feminism, mistrust of the authorities, and cynicism towards big corporations. In the end, Spencer Eden’s lawsuit only makes the album's story more humorous; he even went so far as to state in an interview that “It’d be nice to have a quarter for every person that has seen my baby penis.”