Charisma News Update: Since the time of this story’s original posting, there have been new developments. Charisma News staff have been tracking the progress and provide an update here.
The company who marketed “Satan Shoes” last month will offer to buy back the customized sneakers from purchasers, settling a lawsuit filed by Nike Inc. after the shoes went viral on social media.
The Wall Street Journal reports Nike said it settled its legal dispute with MSCHF Product Studio Inc. over the shoes, which were released in March as part of a publicity campaign for rapper Lil Nas X.
“MSCHF has agreed to initiate a voluntary recall to buy back any Satan Shoes and Jesus Shoes for their original retail prices, to remove them from circulation,” Nike said in a statement.
Nike said any buyers of the Satan’s Shoes who want to return them will receive a refund. The same offer will be extended for purchasers of Jesus Shoes, which were also customized and marketed by MSCHF in 2019.
“We’re thrilled with the way this case has been resolved,” David Bernstein, a lawyer at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP representing MSCHF, told the Wall Street Journal Thursday. “MSCHF from the start distributed these shoes to make a statement, and thanks to the lawsuit and all of the publicity that came from it, that statement reached far more corners than we expected.”
“These shoes were never about making money. MSCHF made these shoes to make a point about how crazy collaboration culture has become,” Bernstein said, noting that the shoe “appeared to be a collaboration with Satan.”
Read the rest of the story from our content partners at CBN News here.
Reprinted with permission from cbn.com. Copyright The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc., All rights reserved.
Here is the original story from Charisma News:
American rapper Lil Nas X released a limited edition of “Satan Shoes” today, complete with a pentagram, an inverted cross and a drop of real human blood.
Lil Nas X, whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill, collaborated with provocative art collective MSCHF to create the red and black sneakers, which reference Luke 10:18 on the sides. The verse reads: “He said to them, ‘I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven.'”
The singer also released a video over the weekend titled, “Lil Nas X Apologizes for Satan Shoe.” Lacking any trace of an apology, it depicts his newest explicit music video, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”
The video follows the rapper’s January announcement that his target audience is children.
Speaking of his 2021 children’s book, C Is for Country, “Lil Nas X catered to and resonated with that younger demographic,” says Dan Runcie, the founder of Trapital, a media company and newsletter focused on business and hip-hop.
The Daily Wire reported on the rapper’s apparent pride in his latest project, at the prompting of a social media comment. “I made the decision to create the music video,” Lil Nas X wrote. “I am an adult. [I] am not gonna spend my entire career trying to cater to your children. [T]hat is your job.”
Conservative voices and faith leaders are unsurprisingly in an uproar, while by and large, the secular response has been favorable, even celebratory.
Franklin Graham highlighted the spiritual warfare at work in a Twitter thread:
The Word of God says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). Hell is a real place, and so is the eternal torment of those who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) March 29, 2021
Pastor Mark Burns of Harvest Praise and Worship Center in South Carolina called for Christians to arise in faith:
These #SatanShoes by #Nike & #LilNasX with 666 and a drop of human blood in the sole is a reason why we Christians must be prayed up ready to battle in the spirit with the Voice of the Holy Spirit. This is evil & heresy and I pray that Christians rise up against this. pic.twitter.com/u7CK3NCIy7
— Pastor Mark Burns (@pastormarkburns) March 27, 2021
And South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem stood up for her faith in response to severe backlash from the artist.
MSCHF x Lil Nas X “Satan Shoes”
Nike Air Max ’97
Contains 60cc ink and 1 drop of human blood
️666 Pairs, individually numbered
$1,018
️March 29th, 2021 pic.twitter.com/XUMA9TKGSX— SAINT (@saint) March 26, 2021
This is outrageous, disgusting and perverted and on #PalmSunday no less. Somehow @lilnasx thinks that Satanic worship should be mainstream and normal. I don’t think there have been better candidates to cancel than LilNasX and these shoes. https://t.co/yrWxjGhIGB
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) March 28, 2021
Nike denied involvement with the shoe line’s development. The Hill quotes the retailer as saying, “We do not have a relationship with Lil Nas X or MSCHF. Nike did not design or release these shoes and we do not endorse them.” {eoa}
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