A new version of the lawsuit accusing Nirvana of child pornography claims the photographer hired to take the naked baby photo used on Nevermind’s cover also shot images of the same baby, Spencer Elden, styled to look like Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.
Elden, now 30, added the allegation to his amended complaint filed Monday. The new filing also drops former Nirvana drummer Chad Channing as a defendant in the case, and dredges up disturbing journal entries attributed to late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.
The new complaint, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, seeks to bolster Elden’s position that the photo of him at four months old, shot by photographer Kirk Weddle and used on the Seattle band’s seminal album, was intended to be sexual in nature. It repeats the assertion that Weddle intended to “trigger a visceral sexual response from the viewer” by activating “Spencer’s ‘gag reflex’ before throwing him underwater in poses highlighting and emphasizing Spencer’s exposed genitals.” Then without elaboration, it adds the line: “Weddle soon after produced photographs of Spencer dressed up and depicted as Hugh Hefner.”