Duke says ‘White Lotus’ went ‘far’ with references to school

The third season of HBO’s “The White Lotus” is shown-a stolen gun, a stolen gun, a incest trough, a dead body in water, fake friendship and white collar crime.

So it may not be completely surprising that real -life officials of Duke University are upset that the school has played a supporting role throughout the session.

One of the major characters of the show, Timothy Ratalife, a rich businessman and a Duke alumnus played by Jason Isak, is on holiday in Thailand with his family. But things go to the south in a hurry when they find out that they are being investigated for their share in a shady financial deal.

Mr. Ratalif fought by stealing an anti -anxiety drug Lorzepam with his wife’s prescription drugs. The bullets leave him in a zombiest state. Later, after filtering one of the security guards of the resort, Mr. Ratalife appears to be wearing a t-shirt considering suicide.

But there is much more: Mr. Ratalif’s eldest son, Saxon, who works for his father’s company and played by Patrick Schwarzenegger, is a poster child for toxic masculinity – and a disturbed sexual encounter with his younger brother and a woman who met at the resort. Saxon also went to Duke.

Frank Tombal, vice -president of communication, marketing and public affairs in Duke, stated in an email that the university did not approve the use of its “digits” in the program.

“Duke appreciates artistic expression and creative story stories,” said Mr. Tamble, “But the characters prominently create confusion wearing a dress wearing Duke’s federal registered trademark and accidentally suggest a support or affiliation where no one is present.”

Mr. Tumbal said the show “uses our brand not only without permission, but also uses it on imagination that is bothering, does not reflect our values ​​or who we are, and just goes far away.”

But when Duke officials may be angry with the school portrayal in the show, the law is most likely in favor of HBO, a professor, who specializes in the intellectual property law in New York University School of Law, said.

The trademark law, the professor said, is about protecting businesses – in this example, Duke – being used by their “traces” in the way that confuses consumers. For example, if a person tries to open a school and call it a “Duke University”, it will probably violate the trademark law.

But this is not the case with “The White Lotus”, and the artists also have strong protection for strong security under the first amendment to use the famous trademark for artistic and expressive purposes-Rights, Professor, said, said, the courts have consistently defended.

“On the one hand, I think Duke is trying to separate himself from it,” said Professor Ser. “On the other hand, they are drawing attention to it.”

David Olson, an associate professor at Boston College Law School, said that the use of trademarks in fiction literature and cultural comments “enjoys comprehensive legal latitudes.” He said: “A trademark does not give a control over how others have a reference to someone’s brand, including important methods.”

When asked by email, Mr. Tamble did not respond whether Duke would consider legal action. A representative for HBO refused to comment.

The university’s apparel in the show became an issue, at least in part, because the school’s highly successful basketball program – Blue Devils won five national championships – it forms a team that likes to hate many sports fans.

This month with the university in the NCAA tournament, “The White Lotus” provided the material for potential memes-Sri Ratalif’s image looks distraught in its Duke T-shirt, with a gun, for a, for one. A post on X suggested that the image emerges as “an all -time meme”. If Duke was lost, views have been received more than three million times and have been preferred more than 59,000 times.

The post responded to Duke’s account on the platform, which warned that suicide was another major cause of death on college complexes and urged those who needed support to seek help.

“As the show is widely shared on social media from the show,” Shri Tamble said, “We are using our brand to promote mental health awareness and remind people.”

“The White Lotus” has two episodes left in the current season, and Mr. Schwarzenegger said during an appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show” that he made him so uncomfortable that he would not see him with his family. A bold statement – and possibly a disturbing for Duke – since his character already had a naked scene in the first episode and the upper triguts with his younger brother.

Making cases worse for Duke: Mr. Ratalif’s daughter, Piper, who is played by Catherine Hook, appears to be the least problematic member of her relaxation family so far and expects to spend a year in a Buddhist monastery.

She attends Duke’s rival, North Carolina University.

If you are considering suicide, call 988 suicide and crisis to reach 988 to reach the lifeline or go to speckofsuidiadia.com/resources for the list of additional resources.