Duke Slams ‘The White Lotus’ for Dressing Jason Isaacs in School Shirt for Suicide Scenes: ‘Simply Goes Too Far’

The university adds that the HBO series used its "federally registered trademarks" without permission The post Duke Slams ‘The White Lotus’ for Dressing Jason Isaacs in School Shirt for Suicide Scenes: ‘Simply Goes Too Far’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Mar 27, 2025 - 21:25

Duke Slams ‘The White Lotus’ for Dressing Jason Isaacs in School Shirt for Suicide Scenes: ‘Simply Goes Too Far’

“The White Lotus” Season 3 featured some pretty graphic scenes of Jason Isaacs’ character Tim Ratliff wearing a Duke T-shirt, and the university is not happy.

In Season 3, Episode 6, Isaacs’ character contemplates a number of suicide attempts and their possible outcomes. These mostly include him shooting himself with a gun stolen from the resort security guard. All the grisly daydreams happen while the character is in a grey Duke University shirt, and the school released a statement saying the HBO series went “too far.”

“Duke appreciates artistic expression and creative storytelling, but characters prominently wearing apparel bearing Duke’s federally registered trademarks creates confusion and mistakenly suggests an endorsement or affiliation where none exists,” Frank Tramble, Duke’s vice president of communications, marketing and public affairs, told The New York Times.

Trambled added that “The White Lotus” “not only uses our brand without permission but, in our view, uses it on imagery that is troubling, does not reflect our values or who we are and simply goes too far.”

Representatives for HBO declined to comment for this story.

The episode premiered right as the 2025 March Madness college basketball tournament kicked off – where Duke is among the favorites to make a deep run – and many fans took to social media to say images of Isaacs’ character pointing a gun to his own head in the school shirt would be a great reaction meme if the team’s fans get upset.

Duke posted a separate response following these observations raising awareness on suicide prevention.

“Suicide is the second-leading cause of death on college campuses,” they posted to X. “Rivalry is part of March Madness, but some imagery goes too far.”

“The White Lotus” airs Sunday nights on HBO.

The post Duke Slams ‘The White Lotus’ for Dressing Jason Isaacs in School Shirt for Suicide Scenes: ‘Simply Goes Too Far’ appeared first on TheWrap.