The White Lotus‘ renowned composer, Cristobal Tapia De Veer, has recently announced his exit from the critically acclaimed HBO series.
In an interview with The New York Times, the three-time Emmy-winning musician opened up about how he wouldn’t be returning to work on the show’s fourth season, stating that there was tension between him and the show’s creator/showrunner, Mike White, over a number of creative differences. Tapia De Veer then enumerated the example of the third season’s opening theme song as a prime example of their creative rift, as he stated his disagreement over White’s removal of the signature “ooh-loo-loo-loo” sound from the Season Three theme, considering it had made the previous theme songs from the first two seasons quite successful.
“I texted the producer [of the show], and I told him that it would be great to, at some point, give them the longer version with the ooh-loo-loo-loos, because people will explode if they realize that it was going there anyway. But then Mike cut that,” said Tapia De Veer. “Maybe I was being unprofessional, and for sure Mike feels that I was always unprofessional to him because I didn’t give him what he wanted. But what I gave him did this, you know — did those Emmys, people going crazy,” he continued.
As more news outlets got wind of Tapia De Veer’s frustrations with the show, White responded by stating his surprise at the composer’s sudden reaction to the press. “I honestly don’t know what happened, except now I’m reading his interview because he decided to do a PR campaign about him leaving the show. I just don’t think he respected me. He wants people to know that he’s edgy and dark and I’m, I don’t know, like I watch reality TV,” White said during his appearance on The Howard Stern Show.
“We never really even fought. He says we feuded. I don’t think I ever had a fight with him — except for maybe some emails. I knew he wasn’t a team player and that he wanted to do it his way, or whatever. I was thrown that he would go to The New York Times to s**t on me and the show three days before the finale. It was kind of a b**ch move,” he continued. “He always had this like contemptuous smirk on his face whenever he was dealing with me because I just think he thought I was a chimp or something, I don’t know.”
Despite the tension between the two, The White Lotus just concluded its third season, earning a record-shattering amount of 6.2 million viewers for its finale episode. This season, which starred BLACKPINK‘s LISA in her first-ever acting role, was set in Thailand and also starred an ensemble cast of performers such as Parker Posey, Michelle Monaghan, Jason Isaacs, Carrie Coon, Walter Goggins, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Aimee Lou Wood, Leslie Bibb, Natasha Rothwell, Sam Nivola, and Sarah Catherine Hook, among others.
LISA expressed her gratitude to White for trusting her with the role of Mook on the show, stating, “Thank you Mike White for trusting in me to fulfill the role of Mook and bring her character to life.” She added, “It was the greatest honor to be part of this show as my first acting gig alongside such incredible actors and I’m so proud to be able to share my culture and show the beauty of Thailand to the world.”
As we anticipate what lies ahead for The White Lotus on its next season, listen to Cristobal Tapia De Veer’s opening theme song to the third season, titled “Enlightenment,” below: