Nike has been granted a restraining order against the company that made the Satan Shoes for Lil Nas X in his latest music video, which sees him seduced from heaven to hell where he seduces the devil then kills him.
The company filed a copyright infringement lawsuit over the weekend and was successful in getting an injunction to stop the sale of the shoes, which Lil Nas X said were available for sale. The shoes, which amounted to 666 and featured an inverted cross along with human blood in the soles, sparked outrage among Nike fans who called for boycotts from the company.
On Wednesday, a U.S District Court in New York approved the company’s application for an injunction against MSCHF, the art collective company that used the Nike Air Max 97 to make the Satan Shoes, TMZ reported.
“Nike filed a trademark infringement and dilution complaint against MSCHF today related to the Satan Shoes,” the company in a statement said.
“We don’t have any further details to shareon pending legal matters. However we can tell you we do not have a relationship with Lil Nas X or MMSCHF. The Satan Shoes were roduced without Nike’s approval or authorization, and Nike is in no way connected with this project,” the company further said.
The orders granted under the injunction are that MSCHF, based in Brooklyn, New York, cannot take orders for any Satan shoes. After Lil Nas X dropped his video, he also shared that the special devil worshipping shoes were made in a batch of 666 pairs. The rapper gushed that the pairs sold out within a minute of being announced.
On Thursday, the MSCHF’s lawyer confirmed that 666 pairs of shoes were made, and they were already shipped to fans. The company argued that Nike had no ground to stand on as the shipped shoes made their case irrelevant.
Nike, on the other hand, isn’t backing down as the lawyer raised for Nike said he had “serious doubts” that the art collective was able to make and sell 665 pairs of the shoes in such a short space of time. The lawyer said, even so, the damage caused to the Nike brand is irreparable as many fans felt it was a legitimate collaboration as MSCHF displayed the Nike shoes with his logo and name without any disclaimer.
The lawyer said shipping of the shoes makes the company no less culpable as it doesn’t remove “post-sale confusion and dilution.”
MSCHF meanwhile argued that the shoes are art. They cited previous endeavors which saw them making Jesus shows- with the cross and the sole having holy water, water taken from the river of Jordan. The company said it did not face a lawsuit for the Jesus shoes and so should not face a lawsuit for the Satan shoes.
Nike said the company continues to face boycott calls and backlash that has damaged its goodwill. There is no monetary remedy that can compensate it, according to its original filing to the court.
“As a direct and proximate result of MSCHF’s wrongful acts, Nike has suffered, continues to suffer, and/or is likely to suffer damage to its trademarks, business reputation, and goodwill that money cannot compensate,” the lawsuit added. “Unless enjoined, MSCHF will continue to use Nike’s Asserted Marks and/or confusingly similar marks and will cause irreparable damage to Nike for which Nike has no adequate remedy at law.”
Lil Nas X is not named in the lawsuit, but the rapper tweeted that he was having anxiety over the entire situation, which he uses humor to cover. In other tweets, he said his video was paying homage to him coming to terms with his queer identity, which he said others caused him to hate himself over, so he rejoiced at people being angry because that is how he used to feel at himself.
