'White Lotus' creator Mike White takes aim at composer who left show amid reported feud
The actor and director dialed into "The Howard Stern Show" Tuesday where he was asked about what happened with Tapia de Veer. The composer publicly announced in an interview with the New York Times that he would not be returning for a fourth season of the hit HBO series, and hinted at strife between him and White stemming back to the first season.
"I just don't think he respected me. He, like, wants people to know that he's edgy and dark and I'm, I don't know, like, I watch reality TV," White said to Stern.
Tapia de Veer, who won three Emmys for his work on the show, told the Times in the interview published Wednesday that he had creative disagreements and fights with White, adding that the creator initially wanted music that lacked edge for the first season's theme.
"He had a temp score, a song that is more like something you would listen to in Ibiza, in some clubby place with a chill, sexy vibe," Tapia de Veer told the outlet. "And there's literally no edge to it. It's a good song; it's nice music. There's just absolutely no — whatever you find in the 'White Lotus' music, the relationships with the characters — there's none of that. It's just nice background music."
When the show's third season premiered on Feb. 16, social media exploded with audience members who noted the discontinuation of the iconic "White Lotus" theme song, which was replaced by music that paid homage to Thailand, where the season was set.
Tapia de Veer wanted to humor the public's longing for the familiar war cry melody by weaving it into a longer version of the Season 3 theme, but said White refused due to their fights, the Times reported. The composer uploaded the longer version to his YouTube last month.
White, on the other hand, said he never fought with the composer.
"We never really even fought, I don't know what — he says we feuded, I don't think I ever had a fight with him except maybe some emails," White said on "The Howard Stern Show."
"But it was just basically, like, me giving him notes, you know? Like I just don't think he liked to have to go through the process of getting notes from me or wanting revisions or whatever," he said.
White said Tapia de Veer is not a team player "and wanted to do it his way," but was still "thrown" that the composer spoke to the press "to s*** on" him and the show ahead of the finale.
"It was kind of a bitch move," he said.
White also said he felt the composer was making a big deal out of differences in opinion, but highlighted that he thinks Tapia de Veer is "very talented."
Stern also weighed in on the reported feud.
"Why quit a smash hit show because you got some notes and some differences, just f---ing work it out," Stern said.
After the radio show aired Tuesday, Tapia de Veer wrote on his X account that he's "gonna have to tell the full story now."
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