The White Lotus creator Mike White has responded to Emmy-winning composer Cristóbal Tapia de Veer’s sudden exit and criticism of the hit HBO series.
Drama is bubbling off-screen at The White Lotus. Just days after the jaw-dropping Season 3 finale aired on April 6, Mike White, the creator of HBO’s Emmy-winning juggernaut The White Lotus, is addressing the unexpected departure—and pointed remarks—of the show’s composer, Cristóbal Tapia de Veer. In a no-holds-barred interview with Howard Stern, Mike White pushed back on the composer’s claims of creative clashes, calling the public airing of grievances “a bitch move” and hinting at deeper tensions behind the scenes.
There’s trouble in paradise—again. But this time, it’s not on screen. The White Lotus creator Mike White has broken his silence after the show’s Emmy-winning composer, Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, abruptly announced he was quitting the series following its Season 3 finale.
In a candid interview on The Howard Stern Show just two days after the finale aired, Mike White said he was blindsided by Tapia de Veer’s April 2 interview with The New York Times, in which the composer criticized their creative relationship and said he felt forced to “fight” to get his music into the series.
“I honestly don’t know what happened,” Mike White told Howard Stern, visibly frustrated. “It was kind of a bitch move… three days before the finale? It felt like a PR campaign.”
Mike White went on to say that despite Tapia de Veer claiming there was a “feud,” he never felt like there were real arguments—just pushback on creative notes. “He basically wants people to know that he’s edgy and dark and I’m, I don’t know, like I watch reality TV,” said Mike White, referencing his past as a contestant on Survivor and The Amazing Race. “He didn’t want to take notes. He didn’t respect me.”
According to Mike White, the working relationship functioned smoothly during the first two seasons of The White Lotus. But by Season 3, things had changed. “He had won Emmys, his song went viral—he just didn’t want to go through the process anymore,” Mike White said. “He’d have a contemptuous smirk on his face when dealing with me. Like I was just a chimp or something.”
Tapia de Veer, whose haunting score and now-iconic The White Lotus theme won him three Emmys, painted a different picture in his interview with the Times. He said he had “few allies” on the production and likened the working dynamic to a dysfunctional rock band. “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,” he said.
While his representative Kim Neundorf declined to comment on Mike White’s recent remarks, the drama has already spilled far beyond the studio walls.
As for what’s next, Mike White said he hasn’t chosen a filming location for The White Lotus Season 4 just yet—but he is heading to Colombia “to get out of Los Angeles.” Season 3 shattered viewership records for HBO, and Mike White confirmed he’s currently renegotiating his deal with the network for the upcoming season.
But ever self-aware, White echoed a sentiment that would feel right at home in The White Lotus‘s satirical world: “At a certain point with money, [one wonders] is this going to make me worse?” he told Stern. “Is having more money just going to make me more dysfunctional?”
For a show that thrives on exposing the rot beneath luxury and success, this behind-the-scenes saga might just be its most The White Lotus storyline yet.
