Duke University Wants No Part of ‘The White Lotus’

In a show that features an array of disturbing story lines, the actions — and wardrobe — of a character have gone “too far” for the university.

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.