The White Lotus earned the Creative Arts Emmy Award for the third season’s theme song, despite the mixed response from fans and a fallout with creator Mike White.
This is the third win for the composer, Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, earning the Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music for the HBO series’ first and now third season, as well as season two’s Outstanding Music Composition for a Series award.
However, the accolade came as a shock in light of the public controversy between Tapia de Veer and White, who argued over the track’s melodic changes.
“People are furious about the change of the theme,” Tapia de Veer said in an interview with The New York Times.
The composer tried to reinsert some of the original theme’s melodies, described as the ‘ooh-loo-loo-loos’, to appease fans, but his attempt was declined by White.
Following this rejection, Tapia de Veer released an uncut version of the track on his YouTube channel, titling the theme “Enlightenment.”
It was in the same New York Times article that the artist announced his departure from the show over creative differences.
“It’s kind of weird right now because I announced to the team a few months ago that I was not coming back, that I was leaving,” Tapia de Veer shared. “I didn’t tell Mike for various reasons; I wanted to tell him just at the end for the shock and whatever.”
The show’s music producer, Gabe Hilfer, described the nature of Tapia de Veer and White’s working relationship in an interview with Rolling Stone.
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“Mike gives Cristo a lot of creative freedom, especially with the themes,” he added. “They go back and forth and they have a conversation about it. It’s a whole process.”
Following the musician’s departure, White shared his own perspective on the Howard Stern Show.
“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 s*** on me and the show three days before the finale,” White said. “I just don’t think he respected me.”
While The White Lotus may have gone through some unexpected creative changes, the series will return for a fourth season, rumoured to be set in France.
