Social media users have said that global athletics brand Nike has created ‘Satan Shoes’ in collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X. This claim is false, says Nike. It is said to be unrelated to the project, and sued the company that custom-made the shoes on the day it was released.
Examples can be seen here and here.
The reports refer to the release of ‘Satan Shoes’ which allegedly contained a drop of human blood as part of a collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X, ‘Old Town Road’. The launch was produced by MSCHF Product Studio Inc.
The shoes are custom-made Nike Air Max 97 sneakers that contain red ink and a ‘drop of human blood’ in the sole, according to a website describing the 666 pairs of limited edition shoes (here).
Nike sued the company on March 29, 2021, the same day the shoes were released, saying MSCHF had infringed on its brand and diluted it with the devil-themed black-and-red shoes (here).
A federal judge on April 1, 2021, ordered the Brooklyn Company to suspend further sales (here).
Although it was unable to release details of pending legal matters, Nike told Reuters by email that the company had no relationship with Lil Nas X or MSCHF.
“The Satan Shoes were manufactured without Nike’s approval or authorization, and Nike has nothing to do with this project,” Nike said.
MSCHF emailed a statement to Reuters, visible mschf.xyz/statement.pdf, saying the company hopes to work with Nike and the court to resolve the matter.
“We are not affiliated with Nike as we have repeatedly repeated the press,” the statement said. “We were honestly amazed at the action Nike did, and immediately after Nike sent us advice, we were notified that we had reached out but received no response.”
The company says in the statement that the company created ‘Jesus Shoes’ (jesus.shoes/) a year ago, which were also custom Nike shoes.
“Heresy exists only in relation to the doctrine: who is Nike to censor the one, but not the other?” asks the statement.
VERDICT
Partly false. MSCHF Product Studio Inc has released 666 pairs of custom Nike Air Max 97 sneakers in collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X. Nike said the company was not aware of the product, and that it sued MSCHF on the day the shoes were released.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.