Lil Nas X caused a firestorm of controversy in July when he unleashed his customized Nike “Satan Shoes,” which came with one cc of human blood in the sole. Outrage — mostly from Christian conservatives — flooded the Twitter timeline and Nike eventually filed a lawsuit to stop the shoes from being sold.
But when professional skateboarder and all-around pop culture icon Tony Hawk announced he was selling 100 skateboards infused with his own blood, Lil Nas X couldn’t help but point out the hypocrisy, noting the lack of backlash made it clear to him people were more offended by his homosexuality than the actual shoe.
On Wednesday morning (August 25), the Grammy Award-winning artist shared a tweet that read, “Now that Tony Hawk has released skateboards with his blood painted on them, and there was no public outrage, are y’all ready to admit y’all were never actually upset over the blood in the shoes? and maybe u were made for some other reason?”
But those in the comment section were quick to point out it likely had nothing to do with the blood — or Lil Nas X’s sexual preference.
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As Christian rapper Ruslan wrote, “Sir, you’re very talented and smart. Please don’t continue to miss the point. Folks didn’t like your shoes because it was a Satan shoe. And the vast majority of people, irregardless of their view towards your sexuality, don’t play with satanic imagery. No one’s out to get you.”
Another commenter shared, “I don’t recall ever seeing people freak out over the blood in the shoes by itself. Its the fact that you tied it to ‘satanism’ and put your blood into it. You bring in religion to anything and people will flip. Tony didn’t. That’s why it was better received.”
And they could be right. The skating legend partnered with subscription-based water and merchandise company Liquid Death for a limited run of skateboards, each with Hawk’s blood mixed into the deck paint — but there’s no mention of Satan.
The promotional run will consist of 100 skateboards, each with “a vial’s worth of Hawk’s DNA” as a part of the deck paint. The boards cost $500 apiece and were up for sale through Liquid Death.
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Then again, Lil Nas X also just announced his debut album, MONTERO, is imminent and this could be the perfect way to get people talking about him again. According to a press release, MONTERO is expected to arrive on September 17.
Check out the trailer below.
