Nike Is Suing Over Lil Nas X’s ‘Satan Shoes’ That Contain Human Blood

Does Satan wear Nikes? That remains to be seen, as the shoe company has filed a lawsuit over a pair of altered Nike Air Max 97s, which apparently have human blood in them.

A company called "MSCHF," which reportedly stands for "miscellaneous mischief" and pronounced "mischief," was founded by Gabriel Whaley when he was 25 years old.

The company began as somewhat of a creative project for Whaley, who once described the internet as, ". . . an insanely efficient distribution vessel for content. . . ", while being interviewed in 2019 by Campaign.

MSCHF has dabbled in various areas of the internet, once creating something called "Card V. Card" in 2020, a competitive multiplayer bank account that anyone could access and into which random amounts of money were deposited. The idea of the game was to "race to spend it before the others!"

But MSCHF is most recently and famously known for producing a limited collection of altered Nike Air Max 97s. Dubbed the "Satan Shoe," the project was produced in collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X.

Get our free mobile app

The shoes have a bible verse stitched on the side, Luke 10:18, which reads, ". . . I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven." They have red ink implemented in the design, as well as a pentagram emblem and, according to their website, one drop of human blood in the sole.

On Monday, March 29th, 666 pairs of the altered shoe were put on sale for $1,018 each and reportedly sold out in less than a minute. The shoe has of course stirred up controversy and confusion, especially for Nike, which has since tried to distance itself from MSCHF.

In a statement released Monday, Nike said they did not collaborate with MSCHF on the "Satan Shoe." The company has now filed a lawsuit which states, "Nike has not and does not approve or authorize MSCHF’s customized Satan Shoes."