Now that the dust has settled from HBOs The White Lotus third season finale, creator Mike White is getting candid about the shows Emmy-winning composer announcing hes quitting the show.

Talking to Howard Stern on Tuesday, White was asked about composer Cristbal Tapia de Veer saying hes not returning for the HBO dramas fourth season after feuding with White over shows score. The composer told The New York Times last week that he is exiting the show, saying, We already had our last fight forever.

I honestly dont know what happened, except now Im reading his interviews because he decides to do some PR campaign about him leaving the show, White said. I dont think he respected me. He wants people to know that hes edgy and dark and Im, I dont know, like I watch reality TV. We never really even fought. He says we feuded. I dont think I ever had a fight with him except for maybe some emails. It was basically me giving him notes. I dont think he liked to go through the process of getting notes from me, or wanting revisions, because he didnt respect me. I knew he wasnt 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. White added that he struggled with de Veer during the first two seasons. By the time the third season came around, hed won Emmys and he had his song go viral, he didnt want to go through the process with me, he didnt 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 hes definitely making a big deal out of a creative difference.

Stern marveled: Youre the genius behind this thing. Why quit a hit show because you got some notes and some differences? Just work it out.

White replied, He is very talented. [But] Ive never kissed somebodys ass so hard to just get him to to lead that horse to water. Have fun with whatever youre doing next.

In the Times story, de Veer said, Maybe I was being unprofessional, and, for sure, Mike feels that I was always unprofessional to him because I didnt give him what he wanted. But what I gave him didthis, you know [won] those Emmys, people going crazy [for the show] That is the main thing that Im most happy about it was worth all the tension and almost forcing the music into the show, in a way, because I didnt have that many allies in there This was a good struggle.

With season three having broken ratings records for the series, White also revealed hes currently renegotiating his HBO deal ahead of the shows fourth season, while Stern pressed him on how much money hes going to make.

We are renegotiating right now, Im definitely curious to find out what that [amount] is, White said. I feel like I have financial security for sure at a certain point with money, [you wonder]: Is this going to make me worse? Is having more money just going to make me more dysfunctional?

Stern, of course, also pressed White on infamous incest hand job between Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivolas sibling characters and the creator admitted that, to some degree, he was indeed trying to generate some shock and attention for the show.

In the show, its a trope where gay sex is like a jump scare, he said. I just felt like we had to build a trope. We had done faux incest [in season two, where two characters turned out not to be related], so maybe we should do real incest. Beyond the shock of it, just to have a character like Patrick[s Saxon], whos all about getting off and just thinks of sex in base terms, what would need to happen to him to where hed suddenly have to pull the brakes on the way hes thinking? I was trying to think of a way that would be integral to his character. But it would be a talking point for sure. Once we cast Patrick and Sam [and they saw the script], I told them, You guys can still get out of this, youre going to be the face of gay incest.'

White also said hes been reading all the finale coverage and has been angsting a bit over the (relatively modest) criticisms out there.

Theyre criticizing the show in certain ways and theyre meaner in certain ways [now that the show is popular], White said. Im used to being this underdog indie writer that people are championing. Certain things will hurt my feelings or Ill feel misunderstood. The mean ones have gotten meaner. Its like they dont like me. I guess I need to either avoid that stuff or get tougher, because it does bum me out.

Some of the finale gripes that bothered White the most were for instance complaints that the surviving characters should be getting interviewed by Thai police after the tragic resort murders in the last episode.

Little logic police really, you cant enjoy the vibe and the emotional arcs because youre so caught up in the this isnt a police procedural, this is a rumination-type show, he said. It makes me want to pull my hair out. Is this how you watch movies and TV shows? Constant literal police?

In fact, White says hes about to hit the road again to get out of Los Angeles and clear his head.

Im going to Colombia today just to get the hell out of here, he said. Ive never been there. I dont think [season four is] going to South America, but Ive never been there. Maybe one day. I just got to get out of L.A. Im scrolling on my phone and reading shit about the show and this is not the finish line that I want.

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The White Lotusseason two is now streaming on Max. Head here for all ofTHRs season three coverage,including ouruncensored oral history with White and the cast,breakdown of the finaleandfinale interviews withJon Gries, Aimee Lou WoodandScott Glenn.