Latest news with #TapiadeVeer
Express Tribune
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Mike White blasts 'White Lotus' composer over feud: "A b*tch move"
Tensions are flaring behind the scenes of HBO's hit series The White Lotus. Creator and showrunner Mike White recently responded to the show's composer, Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, parting ways with the series — and he didn't hold back. White labeled Tapia de Veer's departure and public comments as a "bitch move" during a candid appearance on The Howard Stern Show. 'I honestly don't know what happened, except now I'm reading his interviews because he decides to do some PR campaign about him leaving the show,' White said. 'I 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. We never really even fought. He says we feuded.' White elaborated further: 'I don't think I ever had a fight with him — except for maybe some emails. It was basically me giving him notes. I don't think he liked to go through the process of getting notes from me, or wanting revisions, because he didn't respect me. I knew he wasn't a team player and that he wanted to do it his way.' White didn't mince words when addressing Tapia de Veer's recent interviews. 'I was thrown that he would go to The New York Times to shit on me and the show three days before the finale,' added White. 'It was kind of a bitch move.' Later, White elaborated a bit more on his frayed relationship with Tapia de Veer, alleging that the composer 'didn't want to go throughout the process with me' and 'didn't want to go to sessions' during the production of the third season. 'He would always look at me with this contemptuous smirk on his face like he thought I was a chimp or something,' said White. "He's definitely making a big deal out of a creative difference of opinion.' The clash between the two creatives stems largely from a disagreement over the show's signature music style. Tapia de Veer told The New York Times that he and White didn't see eye to eye when it came to the theme song for The White Lotus Season 3. Tapia de Veer claimed that White wanted to move away from the signature "ooh-loo-loo-loos" that had defined the first two seasons. 'Background music… 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 recalled of White's preference. 'I texted the producer 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,' Tapia de Veer explained. 'He thought it was a good idea. But then Mike cut that — he wasn't happy about that. I mean, at that point, we already had our last fight forever, I think. So he was just saying no to anything.'
NBC News
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
'White Lotus' creator Mike White takes aim at composer who left show amid reported feud
" The White Lotus" creator Mike White did not hold back when asked about an alleged feud with composer Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, calling Tapia de Veer's decision to speak to the media days before the show's season finale "a b---- move." 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."
USA Today
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'White Lotus' drama: Creator Mike White claps back at show composer's criticism
'White Lotus' drama: Creator Mike White claps back at show composer's criticism 'The White Lotus' creator Mike White is clapping back — and not holding back — at his HBO hit's Emmy-winning composer, Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, who announced he was exiting the series last week. In a candid SiriusXM interview with Howard Stern Tuesday, two days after "The White Lotus" April 6 Season 3 finale, White expressed confusion and hurt over Tapia de Veer's comments to The New York Times, detailing what he called creative clashes with White and announcing he had quit the series. 'I honestly don't know what happened,' White told Stern, calling Tapia da Veer's sole April 2 interview a 'PR campaign" that landed "three days before the finale. It was kind of of a bitch move.' "I 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," said White, a former "Survivor" and "Amazing Race" contestant. "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. It was basically me giving him notes. I don't think he liked to go through the process of getting notes from me, or wanting revisions, because he didn't respect me. I knew he wasn't a team player and that he wanted to do it his way." Tapia de Veer, who won three Emmys for the show's earworm theme, told the Times that he had to "force" his music into "The White Lotus," claiming he had few allies on the production and labeling the process "a good struggle." "I feel like this was, you know, a rock 'n' roll band story," Tapia de Veer said. "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." USA TODAY has contacted Tapia de Veer's representative for further comment. White told Stern that, after breaking viewership records in Season 3, he was renegotiating his HBO deal for Season 4. When Stern pressed for specifics for the deal, White responded in a way that reflected "The White Lotus" main theme. "At a certain point with money, (one wonders) is this going to make me worse? Is having more money just going to make me more dysfunctional?' said White.
The Independent
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
The White Lotus creator Mike White brazenly says composer quitting was a ‘b**** move'
The White Lotus creator Mike White has hit out at Emmy-winning composer Cristóbal Tapia de Veer's abrupt departure from the show, calling the announcement 'kinda a b**** move.' Last week, de Veer revealed that he is leaving the hit HBO show, citing long-standing friction with writer and director White. In an interview with The New York Times, Tapia de Veer, 51, announced that he would not return for the show's fourth season and said of White: 'We already had our last fight forever.' Speaking on The Howard Stern Show on Tuesday, White, 54, responded to de Veer's comments by saying: 'I honestly don't know what happened, except now I'm reading his interviews because he decides to do some PR campaign about him leaving the show. 'I 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. 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. It was basically me giving him notes. 'I don't think he liked to go through the process of getting notes from me, or wanting revisions, because he didn't respect me. I knew he wasn't a team player and that he wanted to do it his way. I was thrown that he would go to The New York Times to s*** on me and the show three days before the finale. It was kinda a b**** move.' Tapia de Veer composed the much-loved scores for the first and second seasons of the black comedy, which earned him two Primetime Emmy awards. However, following a lukewarm response to the theme for season three, Tapia de Veer said he would not return. He told The New York Times: 'When [the season three theme] came out, I had TMZ calling me, even people from England and from France, because they wanted some kind of statement about the theme. People are furious about the change of the theme, and I thought that was interesting.' The composer revealed that he had made a longer version of the song, which contained nods to the previous scores that could have been used in the opening credits. When the production team approved of this idea, he revealed that: 'Mike [White] cut that — he wasn't happy about that.' He eventually chose to release the full version of the song, called 'Enlightenment,' on YouTube. Tapia de Veer also claimed that conversations with the show's producers could be 'hysterical' and that they repeatedly asked for music that was more experimental than what he wanted to produce. 'I feel like this was, you know, a rock 'n' roll band story,' he said. '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.' Tapia de Veer claimed that his conflicts with White dated back to the first season when there were tensions over the music despite its award's success. '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 said in the interview. Ultimately, Tapia de Veer said it was 'worth all the tension and almost forcing the music into the show, in a way, because I didn't have that many allies in there'. In a three-star review of the recent finale, The Independent 's Adam White argued that the show's third season 'was The White Lotus at its most un-fun.'
CBC
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
'We already had our last fight forever': White Lotus theme song composer quits after clashing with director
Chilean Canadian musician Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, the composer behind the mysterious and infectious theme song for The White Lotus, has revealed he won't return for season four of the hit show after clashing with Mike White, the show's creator and director. "It's kind of weird right now because I announced to the team a few months ago that I was not coming back, that I was leaving," he told the New York Times. "I didn't tell Mike for various reasons; I wanted to tell him just at the end for the shock and whatever." The show, which follows several wealthy guests who get into seedy shenanigans while staying at a luxury resort, is currently airing its third season. Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs, Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins are among this season's actors, and the season finale will air on Sunday, April 6. Tapia de Veer's theme for the second season, which saw a mix of characters adventure around Italy, went viral and even made it into the clubs, thanks to a high-energy remix from Tiësto. Tapia de Veer, who is based in Quebec, has won three Emmys for his music on the show, including outstanding original main title theme music for the first season. LISTEN | The theme song for the second season of The White Lotus: A number of fans were upset when the theme song for the third season had changed, which prompted Tapia de Veer to contact production about releasing a longer version that included the popular melody from season two. However, White was not on board with the idea. "I texted the producer and I told him that it would be great to, at some point, give [fans] the longer version with the ooh-loo-loo-loos, because people will explode if they realize that it was going there anyway. He thought it was a good idea. But then Mike cut that — he wasn't happy about that," he said. "I mean, at that point, we already had our last fight forever, I think. So he was just saying no to anything. So I just uploaded that to my YouTube," he continued. LISTEN | Cristóbal Tapia de Veer's uncut theme for season three of The White Lotus: When asked about his feelings about departing the show, Tapia de Veer told the New York Times "it is what it is." "You know, I was watching the Emmys, and it's like, there's one thing I'm pretty proud of and that is I feel like I never gave up," he said. "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."
