What would “White Lotus” be without its titillating score and those warbled “ooh-loo-loo-loo’s?” That will no longer concern the series’ original composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer.
The Times confirmed Thursday that the Emmy winner has checked out of HBO’s “White Lotus,” and will not return to bring his musical stylings to the hit series’ fourth season. In an interview published Wednesday, the Chilean Canadian musician told the New York Times that creative differences with showrunner Mike White led to his departure.
A representative for HBO declined to comment.
The composer reflected on his time on the series, including bringing the original Season 1 theme to White, who originally had another sound in mind. “He didn’t want the theme,” De Veer said, adding that White first opted for a song with more of a club feel with a “chill, sexy vibe.” De Veer recalled the song had “literally no edge to it,” and differed from the “dark and edgy” nature of his compositions.
“It’s just nice background music,” De Veer recalled.
De Veer’s version of the theme eventually made it on-air for the inaugural season of “White Lotus” in 2021 and — thanks in part to its famous warbled war cries — quickly became a hit among fans. For the series’ Italy-set sophomore season, De Veer elevated the original theme, combining operatic vocals over a bouncy dance beat. As the New York Times notes, that version made its way to clubs and grew even more popular on social media.
When “White Lotus” fans tuned into the Season 3 premiere in February, many noticed the theme was markedly different. The melody and the vocal trills that fans came to love were notably absent. De Veer said “people are furious about the change of the theme” and that he told a producer he’s interested in giving viewers “the longer version with the ooh-loo-loo-loos, because people will explode if they realize that it was going there anyway.” The extended version of the Season 3 theme — “ooh-loo-loo-loos,” original melody and all — can be found on De Veer’s YouTube page.
“[The producer] thought it was a good idea,” De Veer added. “But then Mike cut that — he wasn’t happy about that.”
He added: “I mean, at that point, we already had our last fight forever, I think. So he was just saying no to anything.”
Elsewhere in the interview, De Veer said he received backlash for the Season 3 theme but that viewers eventually warmed up to it. Though De Veer is “pretty proud” of his time on the “White Lotus,” which has earned him three Primetime Emmy wins, he said, “for sure Mike feels that I was always unprofessional to him because I didn’t give him what he wanted.”
He contended that despite their disputes he did contribute “those Emmys, people going crazy” for his music, even if it took them a while to enjoy it.
“I’m really happy to take those kinds of risks. That is the main thing that I’m most happy about — 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,” he said. “I treasure that more than something else I did that was just a success, and it works and that’s that, with less struggle.
“This was a good struggle.”
Throughout Season 3, “White Lotus” has turned heads for more than just its theme song. In recent weeks, the series faced scrutiny for an incest storyline and nixing mention of a nonbinary character. The show also faced heat from Duke University for dressing a character in university merchandise during a graphic scene.
The “White Lotus” Season 3 finale airs Sunday on HBO.
