CNN’s Chris Cuomo Grills Lawyer Representing Nirvana ‘Nevermind’ Baby
Chris Cuomo, CNN anchor and brother of disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, recently spoke with the lawyer representing Spencer Elden in his child pornography case against Nirvana. Cuomo invited Maggie Mabie onto Cuomo Prime Time, sharing his doubt in the legitimacy of the highly publicized lawsuit.
Spencer Elden was just a baby when he appeared naked on the cover of Nirvana’s breakout album, Nevermind. As he grew up, Elden recreated the Nevermind cover a number of times and even got the album’s title tattooed across his chest. However, he’s recently had a change of heart about the Nevermind cover, calling it child pornography while seeking $150,000 in restitution plus legal fees.
Many lawyers have gone on record to discredit the lawsuit, but Mabie defended her client’s argument on CNN. “The focal point of the image is the minor's genitalia,” Mabie claims. “And here in that image along with all of the other dose factors as we pled in our complaint, it is a very over-sexualized image, and does constitute child pornography. More importantly, it was child exploitation in the way that they created it, and the way that they continue to distribute the image today.”
“I don’t ever remember anybody ever writing or anything being out there in society about this image as a sexualized or pornographic image,” Cuomo argued. “I always thought that it was a suggestion of how right out of the womb, people are just grabbing for money and doing anything they can. I thought it was more about capitalism than it was sexuality.”
“Spencer wants this image redacted,” Mabie went on. “He is saying that he doesn’t want his genitalia out there for the world to consume any longer, and if we have this image redacted, that will be a monumental signal for all victims of child pornography that their voices are being heard and their privacy is being respected.”
Cuomo went on to criticize Mabie’s child pornography claims. “You think that this man is really a good face for the pain of child pornography? Somebody who’s made money out of it. Has a tattoo on his chest about it. Has celebrated it at different times in his life and had all this time to reach out about it in the context that you're offering now, and never did? You really think that this is something that would be comforting to real victims?”
Viewers can watch the full video clip via Yahoo. Read the full 35-page lawsuit here.