‘White Lotus’ went ‘too far’ by featuring Duke T-shirt in graphic scene, school says

nypost.com:

“The White Lotus,” the hit series on HBO, went “too far” with how its iconic royal-blue logo was featured in a recent episode, according to Bloomberg.The school issued a statement and said that the show uses their logo without permission in “troubling” imagery, which has since spread across social media and paints their brand in a negative light.

Duke was referring to episode five of “The White Lotus,” released on March 16, that showed (spoilers ahead) Timothy Ratliff, played by actor Jason Isaac, contemplating suicide while wearing a t-shirt with the Duke lettering on it.White Lotus just blessed us w an all-time meme if Duke loses early in the tournament (and for any brutal Duke loss thereafter) pic.twitter.com/pIsYiiozYLA now-viral meme of Ratliff, whose character in the dark comedy is a proud Duke alumni, holding a gun to his temple is being used to put added pressure on Duke as the Blue Devils’ men’s and women’s basketball teams are about to play in the Sweet 16 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament this week. “White Lotus just blessed us w an all-time meme if Duke loses early in the tournament (and for any brutal Duke loss thereafter),” someone wrote, including the meme, on X. “My cousin who is a die hard Tar Heel fan is specifically waiting to use this at some point this tournament,” another added, referring to Duke’s main rival, North Carolina.The No.

1 seeded Duke men’s team will face Arizona, the fourth seed, on Thursday night. The women, a No. 2 seed, take on the rival North Carolina Tar Heels, the No.

3 seed, on Friday.“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,.