Lil Nas X and his Satan Shoes.Photo: MSCHF
Nike is suing art collective MSCHF for trademark infringement following their “Satan Shoe” collaboration withLil Nas X.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, Nike alleges that the shoes — whichwent on sale Monday and sold out in minutes— were made without the company’s “approval or authorization,“Rolling Stonereports.
The shoe design is “likely to cause confusion and dilution and create an erroneous association between MSCHF’s products and Nike,” and has already resulted in “significant harm to [Nike’s] goodwill, including among consumers who believe that Nike is endorsing satanism,” the lawsuit reads, according toRolling Stone.
The black-and-red sneakers feature a pentagon charm, text reading “LUKE 10:18” — which reads “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”— and a stamp showing the shoe’s number in the collection (e.g., 17/666).
The shoes, as well asthe music videowhich features the musician taking a stripper pole to Hell, drew strong backlash online.
Nike referenced the criticism in its lawsuit, asking the court to force MSCHF to halt production on the shoes and award Nike monetary damages, according toCBS News.
This is not the first time MSCHF has redesigned Nike shoes. In 2019, the Brooklyn-based company released “Jesus Shoes,” a pair of Air Max 97s injected with water from the Jordan River. The shoes also had a crucifix attached to the laces and frankincense-scented insoles.
Nike did not file any lawsuit over the “Jesus Shoes,” according toRolling Stone.
Representatives for Nike and MSCHF did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Lil Nas X is reportedly not listed as a defendant on the lawsuit, though he did address it on Twitter Monday, sharing a clip of Squidward fromSpongebob Squarepantsbegging for money with the caption “me after the nike lawsuit.”
The rapper previously responded to his online critics, and hedidn’t mince wordswhen it came to defending himself, writing, “Y’all saying a gay n— twerking on a cgi satan is the end of times like slavery and the holocaust didn’t happen.”
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The “Old Town Road” artist alsoclapped backat someone who accused him of “destroying society,” writing, “There is a mass shooting every week that our government does nothing to stop. me sliding down a cgi pole isn’t what’s destroying society.”
RELATED VIDEO: Lil Nas X Reveals He Once Worried Coming Out Would ‘Overshadow’ His Career
Lil Nas X, born Montero Hill, alsowrote in a quote tweet, “There was no system involved. I made the decision to create the music video. I am an adult. I am not gonna spend my entire career trying to cater to your children. that is your job.”
Before dropping the music video, Lil Nas X penned a letter to his 14-year-old self, writing in part, “This will open doors for so many other queer people to simply exist.”
source: people.com
