Nike sues over Lil Nas X’s controversial ‘Satan Shoes’ filled with real human blood

Mar 30 2021
Written by Maggie Baska

Lil Nas X's blood-filled 'Satan shoes' face product recall amid Nike lawsuit

Lil Nas X holding one of his Satan-themed shoes. (Twitter)

Nike is suing Brooklyn streetwear label MSCHF over its collaboration with Lil Nas X to design and release “Satan Shoes”.

MSCHF released 666 pairs of the red and black Nike Air Max 97 trainers, featuring a gold pentagram, an inverted cross and a drop of human blood. Lil Nas X released the customised Nike shoes softly after the release of his now iconic music video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”. The shoes carried a hefty $1,018 price tag per pair, but the art collective said they sold out of the shoes in under a minute.

But Nike announced it will be suing MSCHF as it said the Satan Shoes were produced “without Nike’s approval and authorisation” and that it was “in no way connected with this project”. The shoe brand brought claims of trademark infringement, trademark dilution, unfair competition and false designation of origin to the federal court in New York.

According to The Guardian, the lawsuit asked the court to immediately stop MSCHF from fulfilling orders for the shoes and requested a jury trial to seek damages.

BREAKING: Nike is suing MSCHF over the @LilNasX "Satan Shoes" for copyright infringement and dilution. pic.twitter.com/lEL6DIVyOD

— SAINT (@saint) March 29, 2021

“MSCHF and its unauthorised Satan Shoes are likely to cause confusion and dilution and create an erroneous association between MSCHF’s products and Nike,” the lawsuit said.

It continued: “There is already evidence of significant confusion and dilution occurring in the marketplace, including calls to boycott Nike in response to the launch of MSCHF’s Satan Shoes based on the mistaken belief that Nike has authorised or approved this product.”

The Guardian reported that Lil Nas X is not named as a defendant in the suit.

Lil Nas X has clearly gotten word of the lawsuit, posting a series of memes to insinuate going broke if he loses in court.