'We already had our last fight forever': White Lotus theme song composer quits after clashing with director

Chilean Canadian musician Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, the composer behind the mysterious and infectious theme songs for The White Lotus, has revealed he won't return for season four of the hit show after clashing with Mike White, the show's creator and director.

"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," he told the New York Times. "I didn't tell Mike for various reasons; I wanted to tell him just at the end for the shock and whatever."

The show, which follows several wealthy guests who get into seedy shenanigans while staying at a luxury resort, is currently airing its third season. Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs, Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins are among this season's actors, and the season finale will air on Sunday, April 6.

Tapia de Veer composed different themes for each season, and the theme for the second season went viral. The song even made it into the clubs, thanks to a high-energy remix from Tiësto. 

Tapia de Veer, who is based in Quebec, has won three Emmys for his music on the show, including outstanding original main title theme music for the first season.

A number of fans were upset when the theme song for the third season had changed, which prompted Tapia de Veer to contact production about releasing a longer version that included the popular melody from season two's theme. However, White was not on board with the idea.

"I texted the producer and I told him that it would be great to, at some point, give [fans] the longer version with the ooh-loo-loo-loos, because people will explode if they realize that it was going there anyway. He thought it was a good idea. But then Mike cut that — he wasn't happy about that," he said.

"I mean, at that point, we already had our last fight forever, I think. So he was just saying no to anything. So I just uploaded that to my YouTube," he continued.

When asked about his feelings about departing the show, Tapia de Veer told the New York Times "it is what it is."

"You know, I was watching the Emmys, and it's like, there's one thing I'm pretty proud of and that is I feel like I never gave up," he said. "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. But what I gave him did this, you know — did those Emmys, people going crazy."