‘He thought I was a chimp’: Mike White blasts ‘White Lotus’ composer amid show exit drama

The White Lotus creator Mike White is not holding back after his star composer announced that he would not be returning for season 4.

“I honestly don’t know what happened,” White told Howard Stern in a recent interview. “Except now I’m reading his interviews because he decides to do some PR campaign about him leaving the show.” White is referring to Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, the three-time Emmy-winning composer of the show’s main title theme and other compositions including “Mysterious Monkeys” and “In the Sandbox.” Three days before the season 3 finale, de Veer announced that he would not be returning for season 4, citing creative differences with White as the primary reason.

“We already had our last fight forever, I think,” de Veer told The New York Times. “So [White] was just saying no to anything… I announced to the team a few months ago that I was not coming back, that I was leaving.” de Veer claims that his and White’s disagreements began during season 1, when White didn’t initially care for the eerie “ooh-loo-loo-loo” sounds that The White Lotus has since become famous for. When the signature sound was pulled from the season 3 title theme, “Enlightenment,” fans were outraged, prompting de Veer to release a fuller version of the song ⏤ complete with the “ooh-loo-loo-loos” ⏤ on YouTube. Though White claims that he and de Veer “never feuded,” it appears that the damage has been done ⏤ and he’s not being shy about his disgust.

“I don’t think I ever had a fight with him — except for maybe some emails,” White told Stern. “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 of a b⏤ move.”

White took things a step further when he compared the off-screen drama to a common trope explored on his show: monkeys. “By the time the third season came around, [de Veer had] won Emmys and he had his song go viral, he didn’t want to go through the process with me, he didn’t want to go to sessions. He would always look at me with this contemptuous smirk on his face like he thought I was a chimp or something … he’s definitely making a big deal out of a creative difference.” The “monkey” theme began during the show’s first season and reappeared in season 3, when the new cast of characters retreated to a White Lotus hotel in Thailand. Though some fans theorized that the monkeys were ultimately going to be the season’s killers, the explosive season 3 finale quickly proved otherwise.

In light of the very public drama between White and de Veer, the chances of them creatively reuniting for season 4 are as slim as Jennifer Coolidge returning as Tanya McQuoid. de Veer didn’t even want to watch the season 3 finale, telling The Cut that he might do so “in 20 years.” White, meanwhile, is busy celebrating the season 3 finale breaking ratings records on Max, with 6.2 million viewers tuning in to see who died and who was responsible. White revealed to Stern that, in light of the achievement, he and HBO are “renegotiating” his deal ahead of season 4.

As for where season 4 might take place, White has already suggested what he’d like to veer away from, which should make for a refreshing change of pace. After already tackling such meaty topics as familial relationships, sexuality, and spirituality in the first three seasons, it’s anyone’s guess where he’ll go next, or who he might bring back. Patrick Schwarzenegger, who played Saxon Ratliff in season 3, has allegedly heard rumblings of an “all star” fourth season in which any surviving characters could return. White has not yet confirmed this, but he did have one giddy reminder for viewers eagerly awaiting the new season’s arrival: “There’s always room for more murders at the White Lotus hotels.” Gulp.