Apparently “White Lotus” composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer and creator Mike White had behind-the-scenes drama nearly as spicy as the show since its first season.
In a shocking interview with The New York Times, Tapia de Veer, who has scored three Emmy Awards for his work on the HBO original series, claimed that the two butted heads about the show’s theme song for Season 3, which in part led him to decide not to return for another season.
White insisted on having “background music…a song that is more like something you would listen to in Ibiza, in some clubby place with a chill, sexy vibe…no edge to it,” Tapia de Veer told the outlet.
“I texted the producer and I told him that it would be great to, at some point, give [audiences] the longer version with the ‘ooh-loo-loo-loos,’ because people will explode if they realize that it was going there anyway,” he said in a story published Wednesday. “He thought it was a good idea. But then Mike cut that — he wasn’t happy about that.”
Tapia de Veer said the change in theme song left fans “furious.”
“I mean, at that point, we already had our last fight forever, I think. So he was just saying no to anything,” he said of White.
Amid their clash over the theme song, Tapia de Veer said he quietly began making preparations to quit.
“I announced to the team a few months ago that I was not coming back, that I was leaving,” he said. “I didn’t tell Mike for various reasons; I wanted to tell him just at the end for the shock and whatever. Except I told the whole editorial team and music editor and producer and all that, but I didn’t think that they were going to tell him. At some point he heard about that.”
HuffPost has reached out to reps for HBO and White for comment.
HBO told Entertainment Weekly in a statement, “We’ve got nothing to add at this time (but can confirm only that Cristobal isn’t returning to the show).”
Elsewhere in the interview, Tapia de Veer compared working with White on the show to being a part of a dysfunctional rock band.
“I feel like this was, you know, a rock ’n’ roll band story,” Tapia de Veer told the outlet about their differing views. “I was like, ‘OK, this is like a rock band I’ve been in before where the guitar player doesn’t understand the singer at all.’”
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When the Times asked the Chilean-Canadian musician how White reacted to the news of his departure, Tapia de Veer said he “can’t really talk about that” before likening his experience working on the show to the 1978 French film “La Cage aux Folles.”
“I can’t really talk about that. There was a French movie, ‘La Cage aux Folles.’ You know how there’s Albin, which is like the star, and there’s Renato, who is the producer who is always taking care that Albin doesn’t lose his mind about something, because Albin is the diva and Renato is the guy who is trying to make everything work. To me, the show felt very much like that,” he added.
The season finale of “The White Lotus” airs Sunday on Max.
