Jason Isaacs rubbed some salt in the wound after a rough weekend for Duke University.
Isaacs, 61, played disgraced financier Timothy Ratliff on season 3 of The White Lotus, which celebrated its finale with a party at the Four Seasons in Westlake Village, California, on Sunday, April 6.
To celebrate his character’s diehard love for his alma mater, Duke University, Isaacs showed up to the festivities wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the school’s Blue Devil mascot under his suit jacket.
Isaacs wore a Duke T-shirt throughout the series, which became the stuff of meme legend when he pointed a gun to his head during a scene while wearing the shirt.
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The image circulated all over social media on Saturday, April 5, after Duke lost 70-67 to Houston in the Final Four, blowing a six-point lead in the final 35 seconds. The Blue Devils previously led Houston by 14 points, coughing up the fifth-biggest lead in Final Four history.
Prior to the school’s basketball team losing, Duke University issued a statement condemning the use of the university’s name on The White Lotus.
“Duke appreciates artistic expression and creative storytelling,” Duke’s vice president for communications, marketing and public affairs, Frank Tramble, told The New York Times on March 26. “But characters prominently wearing apparel bearing Duke’s federally registered trademarks creates confusion and mistakenly suggests an endorsement or affiliation where none exists.”
Tramble further explained 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.”
Duke would not comment on whether they plan on taking legal action.
Given the fact that Isaacs’ character placed a firearm to his head while wearing the Duke T-shirt, the university attempted to draw attention to mental health resources.
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“As imagery from the show is being shared widely across social media,” Tramble said, “we are using our brand to promote mental health awareness and remind people that help is available.”
On the show, Isaacs’ character becomes made aware that some of his shady business dealings back home in North Carolina have come to light while he’s vacationing with his family.
The rivalry between Duke and the University of North Carolina — whose campuses are located roughly 9 miles apart — also played out on The White Lotus.
Ratliff’s wife, Victoria (Parker Posey), and daughter, Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), both attended North Carolina, while his son Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) attended Duke. In one scene, Victoria can be seen attempting to persuade the couple’s youngest son, Lochlan (Sam Nivola), to attend her alma mater in Chapel Hill.
