Travis Barker called ‘gross’ for selling his blood-stained sneakers

Travis Barker has raised eyebrows after putting his blood-stained sneakers up for sale.

The Blink-182 drummer, 48, recently sold a pair of Vans worn during the rock band’s 2023 world tour for $4,000. However, there’s one distinctive feature on the one-of-a-kind shoes: Barker’s own blood.

The size 9.5 Vans Vault x Mastermind World shoes are splattered with the musician’s blood across the outer sole and laces. Barker listed the pair of unique sneakers through a collectibles company called Trophy, which will deliver the Vans in a museum-grade acrylic Trophy Case mounted for display.

“You can almost step inside Travis Barker’s shoes with his blood-soaked Vans worn throughout his 2023 World Tour,” the company wrote in the listing, describing the sneakers as having “real blood splatter”.

As of December 15, the blood-soaked Vans have already been sold for a whopping $4,000 in less than 24 hours. A portion of the proceeds will go toward Lost But Not Forgotten CA, a non-profit organisation focused on serving teens and their families in the Roseville, California area who have experienced tragic loss or temporary hardships.

Although proceeds from the sale of the blood-stained Vans are going toward an important cause, some fans couldn’t help but feel grossed out by the kind gesture. In the popular r/Blink182 forum, Reddit users shared their unfiltered thoughts on the latest Barker memorabilia.

In the post, one fan - who goes by the screen name u/RoboChopsTF - shared that they reportedly purchased the pair of shoes for $4,000. “So I bought this today and uh,” they wrote, alongside a screenshot of Barker’s Instagram Story post of the blood-soaked shoes.

“This is weird and gross,” said one user in response, while another person wrote: “This is so nasty.”

“I love the guys, but this is too far,” a third fan chimed in.

The sneakers weren’t the only blood-soaked item that Barker listed for sale. The drummer also put up for sale a pair of stained Dickies pants worn during his Manchester show on 16 October. The pants, which were listed for $6,000, have also already sold out.

While on his 2023 world tour with Blink-182, the band was forced to postpone a number of European tour dates after Barker’s then-pregnant wife, Kourtney Kardashian Barker, was hospitalised. Blink-182 announced on 1 September that they were rescheduling a handful of their Ireland and UK shows as Barker “had to return home to the States” due to an “urgent family matter”.

It was later revealed that Kardashian had undergone foetal surgery while pregnant with her fourth child, son Rocky Thirteen Barker. The reality star shared the health update on Instagram on 6 September, posting a black and white photo of herself in a hospital bed holding Barker’s hand.

“I will be forever grateful to my incredible doctors for saving our baby’s life,” she captioned the post. “I am eternally grateful to my husband who rushed to my side from tour to be with me in the hospital and take care of me afterwards, my rock. And to my mom, thank you for holding my hand through this.”

Shortly after, Barker spoke out about the emergency surgery on X, formerly known as Twitter. “God is great. I flew home for a life-threatening emergency surgery for our baby that I’m so grateful went well,” he wrote. “I want to say thank you for all the support. Tour resumes Friday.”

The couple, who were married in May 2022, welcomed their son Rocky on 1 November at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

Kardashian shares three other children with ex-boyfriend and fellow Keeping Up with the Kardashians star Scott Disick: Mason, 13, Penelope, 10, and Reign, eight. Meanwhile, Barker shares two children with ex-wife Shanna Moakler: Landon, 19, and Alabama, 17. He is also the step-father to Moakler’s daughter Atiana de la Hoya, 24.