The Nike and MSCHF’s feud over Lil Nas X’s ‘Satan Shoes’ keeps unfolding. Now, the sports giant has secured a temporary restraining order, which effectively blocks all sales – CBS News reported on April 1.
According to the CBS News report, the restraining order prevents MSCHF from fulfilling any of the orders – though MSCHF claims most of the orders have already been shipped.
Nike is reportedly asking MSCHF to stop orders currently being delivered and recover them. Prior to escalating to getting the restraining order, Nike had made clear they had no affiliation whatsoever with the shoes and filed a lawsuit against the Brooklyn-based art collective.
The shoes were originally released in a limited run of 666 pairs. 665 were sold via the ‘Satan Shoes’ website and Lil Nas X was supposed to select the winner of the final pair via a giveaway on social media on Thursday, April 1.
“Sorry guys I’m legally not allowed to give the 666th pair away anymore because of the crying nerds on the internet,” Lil Nas X tweeted on April 1. “I haven’t been upset until today, I feel like it’s ducked up they have so much power they can get shoes canceled. Freedom of expression gone out the window, but that’s gonna change soon,” he added in a second one.
Per CBS News, MSCHF claimed the shoes were to be interpreted as “art” during a court hearing. Lawyers reportedly alluded to the ‘Jesus Shoes,’ a similar, companion piece, to illustrate the use of Nike products with similar intent and that did not face a lawsuit.
“Heresy only exists in relation to doctrine,” MSCHF reportedly told CBS News in a statement. “Who is Nike to censor one but not the other?”
Previously, on March 30, 2021:
It’s barely been a day since Lil Nas X and MSCHF dropped the much-discussed ‘Satan Shoes’ and Nike has already filed a lawsuit over the design.
The shoes, a pair of reworked Nike Air Max ‘97s, are black and red and embellished with a pentagram and a Bible verse. Each pair is said to contain a drop of human blood from the crew who designed the shoes.
Nike has filed a lawsuit against MSCHF, as reported by WWD, for “trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution and common law trademark infringement and unfair competition.”
“We do not have a relationship with Lil Nas X or MSCHF,” a spokesperson from the brand told the publication. “Nike did not design or release these shoes and we do not endorse them.”
The ‘Satan Shoes’ dropped shortly after Lil Nas X’s controversial video for his latest single “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” which has been met with anger by conservatives. The shoes cost over $1,000 and were released in a batch of 666, quickly selling out after the drop.
In the lawsuit, the brand states that the shoes are “deceiving consumers into believing that Nike manufactures or approves of the ‘Satan Shoe’ and consumers’ belief that the ‘Satan Shoe’ is genuine Nike product is causing consumers to never want to purchase any Nike product in the future.”
Nike wants MSCHF to stop selling Nike products and the brand is asking for “any and all profits” from the shoes, plus “an award of three times the amount of compensatory damages and increased profits.”
True to form, Lil Nas X is dropping memes about the lawsuit on Twitter, including a few Spongebob-related posts and one of “me and Satan on our way to Nike headquarters.”