Jason Isaacs Called Out The "Double Standard" With Male Nude Scenes, And The Internet Has Thoughts

Jason plays Timothy Ratliff, the patriarch of a wealthy southern family on vacation in Thailand for Season 3 of the hit HBO show.

A few episodes in, Timothy (Jason) navigates a slow burn crash-out as he tries to keep his corporate downfall from his eccentrically out-of-touch family, when suddenly he doesn’t notice his penis hanging out of his bathrobe in front of his children.

The children, Saxon, Piper, and Lochlan Ratliff (played by Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola), freak out when they see their father’s member in broad daylight. Based on the viral conversation, the audience also freaked out.

While actors Sam and Sarah confirmed to TV Insider that the penis reveal “was a prosthetic,” the shocking moment has become somewhat of a White Lotus tradition.

The conversation started all over again for Season 3, but the Harry Potter star wasn’t a huge fan of the topic and made that very clear.

“A lot of people are debating it. It’s all over the internet,” Jason said on CBS Mornings when quizzed about whether or not the nude scene was real or not. “And it’s interesting because the best actress this year is Mikey Madison at the Oscars. And I don’t see anybody discussing her vulva, which was on televison all the time.”

Mikey won Best Actress at the 2025 Academy Awards for her titular role as the exotic dancer Ani Mikheeva in Sean Baker’s Anora, which received five awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing.

Jason felt like the conversation surrounding nudity in films is treated differently for men than women, citing another major award-winning film. “It’s interesting that there’s a double standard for men,” he said.

“But when women are naked, Margaret Qualley as well, in The Substance, nobody would dream of talking to her about her genitalia or her nipples or any of those things. So, it’s odd that there’s a double standard.”

Margaret portrayed Sue in The Substance alongside Demi Moore, who was nominated for Best Actress for her role as Elisabeth Sparkle. Both actors were featured in nude scenes throughout the film.

Jason admitted he was dodging the question about the prosthetic penis “because I don’t think that people really want to know how the sausage is made. Genuinely, I think it would be odd when there are characters — and some of the women are naked in here — it’d be odd if you were sitting here. And you would never dream of discussing their genitalia, not for a second.”

“Mike White is a brilliant writer; it’s the best series on television for a long time. And what is the obsession with penises? It’s an odd thing,” Jason said.

“If you know Jason Isaacs and his opinions AT ALL you would know he’s 100% going to call them out on this each and every time.. and he’s going to be right every time too. No-one shouldn’t be asking publicly about anyones body parts regardless. Good on you Jason! @therealjasonisaacs,” one person wrote.

Another person said, “Why did you insist on asking about Jason’s penis? He was to call you out on that. I love listening to your show, but this was a terrible moment. He was there to talk about White Lotus, not be questioned about whether or not his penis was a prosthetic. Shame on you.”

This person said, “well he has a point, but it’s kinda more complicated than that imo. people aren’t freaking out over female nudity because honestly, it’s been normalized in film for ages. meanwhile, male full-frontal still gets people talking just because it’s rarer. It’s not really a double standard in the way he’s saying but it’s more like women’s bodies have been picked apart for so long that no one bats an eye anymore, which is its own problem.”