Like so many other outspoken and boundary-breaking artists before him, hip hop musician Lil Nas X has faced wave after wave of criticism from conservatives—especially self-described Evangelical Christians—who find his sexual and religious imagery offensive.
And perhaps nothing drew more ire than his so-called "Satan shoes," a Satan-themed pair of Nike Air Max 97s that were infused with real human blood.
So when legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk recently announced he'd be collaborating on a line of skateboards infused with his own blood, the same people said nothing. Hawk got virtually no push-back from Evangelical Christians and conservatives.
Lil Nas X couldn't help but suspect there was a double standard at play. Perhaps some hypocrisy on the part of Christian conservatives?
Now, he's taken to Twitter to address his critics head-on.
He's calling them out for their hypocrisy.
Lil Nas X's tweet 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 mad for some other reason?"
The "Satan shoes" were created to coincide with the release of Lil Nas X's controversial gay-themed song "Call Me By Your Name" and its sexually and religiously themed video.
The shoes drew so much outrage even conservative politicians like South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem invoked them as evidence of a "fight to save the soul of our nation."
Contrast that with Hawk's new venture.
A collaboration with canned water company Liquid Death, the limited edition skateboard—only 100 of which will be made—use a paint infused with two actual vials of Hawk's blood, as they showed in a social media video released earlier this week.
But while Lil Nas X's "Satan shoes" all but broke the internet, there's been virtually no blow-back for Hawk's decidedly macabre project—which also includes imagery that many Christians would classify as "Satanic."
And yet there's been no outrage from conservatives, no calls for national prayer from the Evangelical Christians.
What gives?
As far as Lil Nas X is concerned, given the subtext of his tweet, it seems to be because Tony Hawk is just an average White guy, rather than a queer Black man.
This proved as controversial an issue on Twitter as the original shoes were back in March, with many people calling Lil Nas X's point preposterous.
But plenty of others saw Lil Nas X's point, and agreed a crystal clear double standard was at play.
Anyway, if a Tony Hawk blood-infused skateboard is up your alley, you're already too late—they sold out within minutes of release.
@JenWave95/X
@gearinco/Bluesky
