Company that used Nike's 'swoosh' in making Lil Nas X's 'Satan Shoe' agrees to settlement, recall

The "Satan Shoes" are Nikes with "Luke 10:18" written on the side a drop of human blood allegedly in the midsoles.
Lil Nas X
By Landon Mion

Nike says MSCHF Product Studio, the company that created Lil Nas X's "Satan Shoes" has agreed to recall the shoes as part of a legal settlement between the two companies.

Nike sued MSCHF for trademark infringement last week over the controversial shoes, which display the athletic footware company’s trademark "swoosh."

The "Satan Shoes" are black-and-red customized Nike Air Max 97s, with "Luke 10:18," the Bible verse explaining Satan falling from heaven, written on the side. The midsoles of the shoe contain a drop of human blood.

The collaboration between Lil Nas X and MSCHF Product Studio came after the rapper’s release of a music video for his song "Montero (Call me By Your Name)," which had a controversial Satanic message as well. It showed Lil Nas X falling from heaven to hell on a pole before giving Satan a lap dance.

Nike announced that MSCHF will offer full refunds to people who purchased the shoes and said that people were confused about who created them because Nike’s logo is on them, The Hill reported. MSCHF claimed that the shoes were "individually-numbered works of art."

"MSCHF intended to comment on the absurdity of the collaboration culture practiced by some brands, and about the perniciousness of intolerance," said MSCHF's representative David Bernstein, also chairman of the intellectual property litigation group at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton. "Having already achieved its artistic purpose, MSCHF recognized that settlement was the best way to allow it to put this lawsuit behind it so that it could dedicate its time to new artistic and expressive projects."

Lil Nas X was not a defendant in the lawsuit with Nike.

Following his music video and the release of "Satan Shoes," conservatives criticized Lil Nas X’s choice of Satanic theme on social media.

Lil Nas X defended himself, saying that the video is a message detailing his sexuality and the homophobia he has endured. He publicly came out as gay in 2019. He said the new video shows how he has attempted to strip the devil of "his power as an evil force."