The third season of HBO’s “The White Lotus” has featured — spoilers ahead — adultery, a stolen firearm, an incestuous threesome, a dead body in the water, fake friendships and white-collar crime.
So it might not be entirely surprising that real-life officials from Duke University are troubled that the school has played a supporting role throughout the season.
One of the show’s leading characters, Timothy Ratliff, a wealthy businessman and Duke alumnus played by Jason Isaacs, is on vacation in Thailand with his family. But things go south in a hurry when he learns that he is being investigated for his part in a shady financial deal.
Mr. Ratliff copes by stealing lorazepam, an anti-anxiety medication, from his wife’s cache of prescription drugs. The pills leave him in a zombielike state. Later, after filching a handgun from one of the resort’s security guards, Mr. Ratliff appears to contemplate suicide — while wearing a Duke T-shirt.
But there is more: Mr. Ratliff’s eldest son, Saxon, who works for his father’s company and is played by Patrick Schwarzenegger, is a poster child for toxic masculinity — and has a disturbing sexual encounter with his younger brother and a woman they met at the resort. Saxon went to Duke, too.
Frank Tramble, the vice president for communications, marketing and public affairs at Duke, said in an email that the university did not approve of the use of its “marks” in the program.
“Duke appreciates artistic expression and creative storytelling,” Mr. Tramble said, “but characters’ prominently wearing apparel bearing Duke’s federally registered trademarks creates confusion and mistakenly suggests an endorsement or affiliation where none exists.”
Mr. Tramble added that the show “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.”
But while Duke officials may be annoyed with the school’s portrayal in the show, the law is most likely on HBO’s side, said Jeanne Fromer, a professor who specializes in intellectual property law at the New York University School of Law.
Trademark law, the professor said, is about protecting businesses — in this instance, Duke — from their “marks” being used in a way that confuses consumers. For example, if someone tries to open up a school and call it “Duke University,” that would likely violate trademark law.
But that is not the case with “The White Lotus,” and artists also have strong protections under the First Amendment to use well-known trademarks for artistic and expressive purposes — rights, Professor Fromer said, that the courts have consistently defended.
“On the one hand, I understand that Duke is trying to disassociate themselves from this,” Professor Fromer said. “On the other hand, they’re drawing attention to it.”
David Olson, an associate professor at Boston College Law School, said that the use of trademarks in fiction and in cultural commentary “enjoys wide legal latitude.” He added: “A trademark does not give one control over how others reference one’s brand, including in critical ways.”
Mr. Tramble did not reply when asked by email if Duke would consider legal action. A representative for HBO declined to comment.
The university’s apparel in the show became an issue, at least in part, because the school’s extremely successful basketball program — the Blue Devils have won five national championships — makes it a team that many sports fans love to hate.
With the university in the N.C.A.A. tournament this month, “The White Lotus” has provided material for potential memes — the image of Mr. Ratliff looking distraught in his Duke T-shirt, with a gun to his head, for one. A post on X that suggested that the image would emerge as “an all-time meme” if Duke were to lose has received more than three million views and has been liked more than 59,000 times.
The post prompted a reply from Duke’s account on the platform, which cautioned that suicide was the second-leading cause of death on college campuses and urged those who needed support to seek help.
“As imagery from the show is being shared widely across social media,” Mr. Tramble said, “we are using our brand to promote mental health awareness and remind people that help is available.”
The current season of “The White Lotus” has two episodes left, and Mr. Schwarzenegger said during an appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show” that they made him so uncomfortable that he wouldn’t watch them with his family. A bold statement — and potentially a troubling one for Duke — since his character already had a nude scene in the first episode and the aforementioned threesome with his younger brother.
Making matters worse for Duke: Mr. Ratliff’s daughter, Piper, who is played by Sarah Catherine Hook, so far seems to be the least problematic member of her dysfunctional family and hopes to spend a year at a Buddhist monastery.
She attends Duke’s rival, the University of North Carolina.
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