The White Lotus Season 3 Theme Song Debacle Takes A Dramatic Turn
Remember seven weeks ago when The White Lotus unveiled its new theme tune and there was genuine outcry about it?
All seems a bit silly in hindsight, doesn’t it? In fact, the new theme has rather grown on you now, hasn’t it?
Well, musician Cristóbal Tapia de Veer has now confirmed that he won’t be returning to The White Lotus next time around, after three seasons as its award-winning composer.
In a new interview with the New York Times, Cristóbal opened up about the backlash, as well as how he had been known to butt heads with White Lotus creator Mike White during their working relationship.
“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,” he recalled.
“People are furious about the change of the theme, and I thought that was interesting.”
He revealed that he’d previously spoken to a member of the production team about releasing a longer version of the season three feature, including the motifs from the first two years (or, as he put it, the “ooh-loo-loo-loos”) that people took to during the show’s initial run.
“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 realise that it was going there anyway,” Cristóbal claimed.
“He thought it was a good idea. But then Mike cut that – he wasn’t happy about that.”
In the end, Cristóbal released the longer cut of the theme music himself on YouTube last month.
He claimed: “I mean, at that point, we already had our last fight forever, I think. So he was just saying no to anything.”
The Emmy-winning composer also opened up about how his conflict with Mike dated back to the first season, when the TV producer was initially unhappy with the theme music and score that would eventually win the show two Emmys.
“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,” Cristóbal noted. “But what I gave him did this, you know — did those Emmys, people going crazy.”
HuffPost UK has contacted Mike White’s team for comment.
During his time with The White Lotus, Cristóbal won three Emmys in total.
He previously opened up about his unusual and unexpected inspirations for the revamped season three titles, while cast member Patrick Schwarzenegger was quick to defend the remixed music.
Just one episode remains in the current season of The White Lotus, which will be available to watch in the UK on Sky and Now from Monday morning.