After this week’s explosive finale, all the drama in the third season of The White Lotus may be over — but that doesn’t mean the drama behind the scenes is.

The only thing that had an arguably bigger breakout than Jennifer Coolidge on The White Lotus is its iconic theme music.

After announcing his resignation ahead of the fourth season, show composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer (who is behind the theme and soundtrack of the first three seasons) took to The New York Times last week to openly discuss his creative clashes with show creator Mike White during their three-season run, comparing White to a “diva” and noting that he quit the show without informing him first.

“I didn’t tell Mike for various reasons; I wanted to tell him just at the end for the shock and whatever,” de Veer told the Times. “I didn’t think that they were going to tell him. At some point he heard about that.”

Now, it seems White has a response for Tapia de Veer. 

In an interview with Howard Stern on his SiriusXM show, White had this to say about the composer’s dramatic exit: “I honestly don’t know what happened, except now I’m reading his interviews because he decides to do some PR campaign about the show.”

White went on to talk about the two’s working dynamic during the first three seasons.

“I just don’t think he respected me. I think he basically wants people to know that he’s edgy and dark and I’m, I don’t know, like I watch reality TV. We never really even fought. He says we feuded. I don’t think I ever had a fight with him, except maybe some emails.”

White explained that it was this issue of respect that caused the division between the two.

“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 shit on me and the show three days before the finale. It was kind of a bitch move.”

It seems that all of the hype around the show’s music perhaps went to the composer’s head, if you ask White.

“He’d won Emmys and had his song go viral, so he just did not want to go through the process anymore. He didn’t want to get notes from me. He always had this contemptuous smirk on his face whenever he was dealing with me because I think he just thought I was a chimp.”

Strong words from television’s hottest showrunner right now! He did later say that Tapia de Veer was “very talented.” 

This now leaves us with the question: what will Season 4’s music sound like? Along with this, and a rumored significant switch-up in location for the next outing, is this the sign of a dramatic shift in the show’s tone and trajectory? 

You can stream all three seasons of The White Lotus on Max.