White Lotus star Jason Isaacs is our new hero for vowing to wear Duke shirts even though Duke hates it

If you watched White Lotus season three, or were simply on the internet last month, you know that one of the main characters wore a Duke shirt while contemplating suicide and homicide. The screenshot instantly became a meme, with Duke haters counting down the minutes until they could use it when the Blue Devils lost in the NCAA Tournament. That finally happened in the Final Four vs. Houston, but the story will live on for a while longer thanks to the star who is the face of it all, Jason Isaacs.

Isaacs portrayed Timothy Ratliff, a wealthy businessman from North Carolina who took his family on vacation to the White Lotus resort in Thailand. Shortly after arriving, Ratliff, a Duke graduate, found out he was in hot water at home due to his involvement in a money-laundering scheme. He kept the secret from his family through the vacation, but it ate away at him to the point he considered shooting himself in the head and planning a murder-suicide for his family. In both scenes, Isaacs is wearing a Duke t-shirt, which prompted the school to issue a statement condemning the use of its logo/marks because it went “too far,” and HBO did not ask permission.

“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,” Frank Tramble, Duke’s vice president for communications, marketing and public affairs, said in a statement. “Suicide is the second-leading cause of death on college campuses. As imagery from the show is being shared widely across social media, we are using our brand to promote mental health awareness and remind people that help is available.”

“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,” Tramble added.

Today, Isaacs was all too happy to chat about Duke during an appearance on the “Literally! with Rob Lowe” podcast. Lowe’s son went to Duke, which prompted him to bring up the “hubbub” over the use of the marks. Isaacs said it was his idea for his character to wear the Duke shirt, and he believes HBO did its due diligence.

“I’m pretty sure they got it cleared because, as you know, you don’t ever go on television without getting all the logos cleared,” Isaacs said. “Well, someone at Duke decided that was really untoward and was not happy with the association. Other people online were pointing out that there are real-life alumni of Duke to be far more worried about than a fictional alumni.”

Isaacs now has plenty of Duke shirts thanks to some fans from Durham who attended a convention where he was working in Virginia.

“People drove from Durham, NC, very sweetly, to come. They drove just to tell me that they thought my accent was accurate and I shouldn’t listen to the people who don’t know what a Durham, NC, accent is, and they brought me Duke t-shirts. So I now have a selection of Duke t-shirts.”

In fact, he’s got so many he’s going to keep wearing them in hopes the Duke jokes continue in perpetuity.

“I didn’t wear one today. If I’d known, I’d have it on now, but I am intending to wear them whenever there’s a camera around. So sorry, Duke. There goes my honorary degree.”

What a total Lucius Malfoy move. Our new hero.

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