Mike White Responds To White Lotus Composer's Departure, "I've Never Kissed Someone's Ass So Hard Just To Lead Them To Water"

We're fighting each other tooth and nail for White Lotus blogs over on Barstool sports dot com, but I'm THRILLED to be the one to have snagged this one. The second I heard that White Lotus composer Cristóbal Tapia de Veer was leaving the show, I knew he had to have been a real diva for Mike White to allow it. In addition to making the theme songs, his work composing throughout the series setting the tone has been an absolute highlight of the show. We know how to feel because he tells us how to feel. He's very talented, and seemingly a staple for the show itself. 

Until....I saw he "leaked" the "longer version" of the new season 3 theme song that DID include a piece where it rounded back out into the usual White Lotus theme song everyone had begun to know and love, painting Mike White as the evil dictator who cut it from the show. Season 1 it was a slower version, Season 2 of course very loud and upbeat to match the Sicilian background. Season 3, well, here it is:

I included my own tweet in this because it's how I feel - I like it the way it is! The traditional song didn't fit with the vibe this season. Or, if they were to include it, it needed to have a totally different sound. There were moments IN season 3 where the OG theme would play hauntingly in the background and I actually thought that was much more effective than it being in the theme song. This "leaked" theme song sucks. It takes too long to get to the goods and they honestly sound exactly like season 2. I trust Mike White and I jam out just as hard to the new song as I did to the last one. Sorry Cristobal!

Once I saw this "leak" I knew that Cristobal had been reading comments, seeing people talk shit about the theme song not having the WOO WOOs, and refused to go down with that ship. His ego took over and he wanted to make sure everyone knew it was MIKE WHITE'S fault, NOT THE ESTEEMED CRISTOBAL! Mike's statement confirms everything I had been thinking:

Mike White fires back at #TheWhiteLotus composer who's quitting after Season 3 creative differences: “He didn't respect me… it was kind of a bitch move." "He didn’t want to go through the process with me and 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 of opinion… He is very talented. [But] I’ve never kissed somebody’s ass so hard just to lead that horse to water. Have fun with whatever you’re doing next.”

I am so on his side its stupid. Yes, Cristobal was great, but he's not the only composer in the world. It sounds like he needed a lot of help to get to the end project anyway! I have FULL faith that Mike White will find someone new for the rest of the seasons who wants to be collaborative, like the rest of the cast and crew seem to be, instead of someone who is too focused on credit and ego. To that I say, BYE BITCH! 

I love Mike White so much. He seems to be the REALEST guy out there - he'll always speak the truth, and he'll expose you for not doing the same. I'm in the majority of people who loved the season for what it was, thought the finale was good, and can't wait for more seasons with more characters to dissect. LONG LIVE THE WHITE LOTUS! MIKE WHITE HIVE STAND UP!