Nike Sues Over Lil Nas X 'Satan Shoes'

Company says only it can decide where the 'swoosh' goes
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 30, 2021 12:59 AM CDT
Nike Sues Over Lil Nas X 'Satan Shoes'
Lil Nas X accepts the award for top hot 100 song for "Old Town Road"at the Billboard Music Awards on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

First, Nike made it clear it had nothing to do with Lil Nas X's "Satan Shoes," the modified Nike Air Max 97s that sold out in less than one minute when 666 pairs went on sale Monday for $1,018 each. Now, the company is taking things a step further: It's suing MSCHF, the Brooklyn-based company with whom the rapper collaborated on the shoes, the New York Times reports. The "unauthorized Satan Shoes are likely to cause confusion and dilution and create an erroneous association between MSCHF’s products and Nike," the lawsuit says, adding that only Nike has the right to decide "what products to put the 'swoosh' on."

The shoes feature a pentagram charm and include a drop of human blood, and one of MSCHF's founders tells the Times that it was six employees of his company who donated the blood, which was mixed with ink to fill an air bubble on the sole of the shoe. NBC News reports Nike sued after "many people" said they thought it was involved with the shoes, despite Nike's statement to the contrary, and some called for a boycott of the company. Lil Nas X is not named as a defendant in the copyright infringement suit, which calls for the court to stop MSCHF from fulfilling shoe orders. (More Lil Nas X stories.)

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