Thursday, 24 May 2007

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Courtney Love's fury over Kurt ad

Singer lashes out as late singer is featured in Dr Marten's campaign

Courtney Love is lashing out at Dr. Marten's shoes for featuring her late husband Kurt Cobain in an advertisement.

"Courtney had no idea this was taking place and would never have approved such a use," her rep tells PEOPLE. "She thinks it's outrageous that a company is allowed to commercially gain from such a despicable use of her husband's picture."

The ad, apparently running only in the United Kingdom (see it below), shows Cobain wearing black Dr. Marten boots, draped in an angelic robe and sitting on a heavenly cloud. In the corner, it reads: "Dr. Martens. Forever."

The ad for the shoes, part of the company's AirWair line, is for a recent campaign featuring several dead rock stars, including Sid Vicious from The Sex Pistols and Joey Ramone from The Ramones.

The ad is apparently not running in the United States.

"It does appear that in the UK what Dr. Martens has done is allowed," says Love's rep. "Courtney did not, and would not, approve of such a use of Kurt's name and likeness."

Dr. Marten's U.S. office did not immediately return calls for comment.

Love and Cobain married in 1992 and had a daughter, Frances Bean, now 14. Cobain committed suicide with a shotgun at the couple's Seattle home in 1994, and Love, who has never remarried, has said that she now wants to sell most of his possessions.

As for the proceeds of the sale, "Most will go to charity since the money isn't what I'm that interested in, but it's really an exchange of energy," she has written on her Web site. "Obviously we'll keep more than enough of his stuff – his monkey collection – things that mattered to him for Franny and her family."