Nike Sues Designer Behind Lil Nas X’s “Satan Shoes”

To promote the release of his new single "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," Lil Nas X launched a streetwear collaboration with the company MSCHF dubbed the Satan Shoes. The shoes are customized Nike Air Max 97s that come in a limited-edition run of 666 (they're all sold out now) and have a pentagram charm and (purportedly) a drop of human blood mixed with ink that fills an air bubble in the shoes.

The shoes and the music video for Lil Nas X's "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," which features the rapper descending on a stripper pole into hell to grind up against Satan, have attracted the usual backlash from bad-faith conservative social media ghouls who are aghast that the "Old Town Road" rapper could possibly tempt their children toward a life against Christ. Lil Nas X has spent much of the weekend clapping back at his naysayers, including the rapper Joyner Lucas:

And now Nike has entered the fold. The company filed a lawsuit against MSCHF today for trademark infringement, among other complaints, after some conservative commenters called for a boycott of Nike products.

"Nike files the lawsuit to maintain control of its brand, to protect its intellectual property, and to clear the confusion and dilution in the marketplace by setting the record straight -- Nike has not and does not approve or authorize MSCHF's customized Satan Shoes," the lawsuit reads. It continues: "Nike requests that the Court immediately and permanently stop MSCHF from fulfilling all orders for its unauthorized Satan Shoes."

MSCHF have a history of products that toe the line with regards to infringement. The "Satan Shoes" themselves are a spinoff of their previously released Jesus Shoes, a line of customized Nike sneakers that contained a drop of holy water. Earlier this year, they released an unauthorized $75,000 "Birkinstock" shoe made from Birkin bags.

Lil Nas X is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. He's already tweeting about it, though: