SANDY GALLIN and DAVID GEFFEN as Michael Jackson’s management team. Part 2

This is the continuation of the post about the so-called partnership between Sandy Gallin, David Geffen and Michael Jackson and the way it came to an end (see the first part here). We pick up from where we left off and where the story got somewhat complicated.

Look at Bernard Weinraub, for example.

Weinraub was the Los Angeles correspondent of the New York Times who set off the public outcry against Michael Jackson’s new HIStory album several days prior to the album release – when everything about it was still a guarded secret.

Weinraub suddenly announced that they had got hold of the album and introduced it to the public as “profane, obscure, angry and filled with rage” and its song They Don’t Care About Us as “pointedly critical of Jews”. This immediately sparked off an outrage though no one had yet seen or heard the album.

The name of Bernard Weinraub doesn’t mean anything to us, but not until we learn that he is married to Amy Pascal, who for many years was President of Sony/Columbia pictures.

Bernard Weinraub and Amy Pascal got married in 1997

Could Amy Pascal tip-off her husband with insider information for a sensational pre-release story?

Hardly so. Even if we disregard Sony’s total unwillingness to ruin their own album, Weinraub and Pascal got married in 1997 and started dating only in 1996.

And in the summer of 1995 when the scandal over the album broke out Amy Pascal was working for another company and didn’t have access to Sony music – she was head of Turner Pictures (1994-1996) and became president of Sony’sColumbia Pictures in December 1996.

Well, the lead to Amy Pascal was promising, but it took us nowhere, so we will have to give it another try starting from Bernard Weinraub again.

BERNARD WEINRAUB

Who is Bernard Weinraub?

The March 2004 issue of the Los Angeles Magazine has a big story about this journalist. Its headline is “‘NEW YORK TIMES’ REPORTER BERNARD WEINRAUB HAS HOLLYWOOD’S EAR. THAT’S THE PROBLEM.”

“Bernard Weinraub has Hollywood’s Ear. That’s The Problem” LA Magazine, March 2004

We learn that this veteran NY Times reporter who had been to Vietnam and used to write about politics began reporting from Los Angeles in 1991 as a NY Times entertainment correspondent and as Weinraub put it, began covering Hollywood “like a foreign country”.

His predecessor realized that he hated the place and told his bosses that “he’d never met a worse bunch of liars that the ones in Hollywood”, and when he left Weinraub seized the opportunity.

“The wealth and trappings of Hollywood are for many reporters hard to resist. And Weinraub got into the pool. He just loved it”, said a NY Times staffer. “He loved walking into restaurants and looking like a player.”

A couple of other passages from the LA Magazine story may bring us closer to the point. The esteem Hollywood felt for Weinraub was unrivalled – everyone there sought his attention and approval. And though many would be willing to talk to him he relied on the information of the chosen few.

Weinraub’s affections have been courted as if here were a studio head, because a Weinraub can have a powerful impact on a career. Having Weinraub quote you [] marks you as a player. Having Weinraub dog you, as he did Michael Ovitz, is the kiss of death. He is read obsessibly, his prose searched for nuances of meaning: Who is talking to him? What is the spin? Everybody reads Bernie.

…In a town full of knife hurlers and carpet bombers, it was muttered – albeit often by those who’d felt the sting of Weinraub’s reporting – that he was relying on a small group of sources. Some said he was way too close to Geffen and to Walt Disney Motion Pictures chairman Joe Roth.

“That’s nonsense,” says Weinraub.

“He was way too close to Geffen” LA Magazine, March 2004

Wow, so the Hollywood crowd muttered that Weinraub was way too close to Geffen?

But if that is the case it was certainly Geffen on whom Weinraub relied as part of his “small group of sources” and Geffen could easily tip-off his friend about the Jackson issue (if he wanted to).

The above piece also tells us that when it came to David Geffen’s foes, like Michael Ovitz for example, Weinraub was relentless. Even outsiders saw that the journalist dogged Ovitz so much that it amounted to “the kiss of death”, considering his power of forming public opinion all over the country.

Michael Ovitz says that it was true:

“The vehicle Geffen has repeatedly used to sabotage his image, Ovitz charges, is The New York Times, especially its Hollywood correspondent, Bernard Weinraub. Ovitz has compiled a list of Weinraub articles about him over the years. Few have much nice to say.”

“If I establish the foundation of the negativity,” Ovitz says, “it all comes down to David Geffen and Bernie Weinraub. Everything comes back to those two. I came up with a name for it: linked spin. Geffen comes up with the spin, and Weinraub parrots it back, quoting the same people over and over.“

So if we are to believe Ovitz, whose disaster Geffen did help to orchestrate, there was (and is) a linked spin between Geffen and Weinraub and “everything comes back to those two.”

But if everything comes back to those two, wherever Weinraub is, Geffen should also be somewhere around there. And since it was Weinraub who got exclusive access to Michael Jackson’s unreleased lyrics and triggered off the scandal, it could easily be Geffen who tipped him off – if he wanted to do Michael damage of course.

To me it sounds like a highly probable scenario, especially if we recall Geffen’s usual modus operandi of never acting openly and always working behind the scene. Remember the picture that characterizes Geffen’s ways according to one of his friends? I mean, this one:

“David sort of sits there in the darkness. Very quiet. You don’t know what he’s doing except controlling and manipulating. Sort of like the original-cast album cover of ‘My Fair Lady.’ That’s David.”

The probability of Geffen being behind that negativity about MJ will grow only stronger if we take into account the strange fact that by 1995 the information about Geffen-Michael Jackson partnership had ceased altogether and had been long gone – which points to all not being well between the two of them by that time.

Geffen’s plans for Michael Jackson were initially heavily publicized and even glorified by the media, and reached their peak when Michael signed a new contract with Sony in 1991, but then the stream of information turned into a scarce trickle and soon subsided, somewhat abruptly too.

In 1993 during the Chandler crisis, for example, Geffen didn’t go on the record to defend Michael Jackson (as far as I remember) and the most that can be regarded as Geffen’s support for him was a quote from an anonymous source which was reported – naturally by Bernard Weinraub – as follows:

“Some of the entertainment world’s most formidable figures who know Mr. Jackson said privately today that the current situation seems nothing less than tragic for the shy, reclusive and childlike entertainer, who has, by all accounts, few close friends. His future seems unpredictable.” 

“The entertainment world’s most formidable figure” does sound like Geffen, but what’s interesting is that now he prefers to stay anonymous. And all this “tragic-shy-reclusive” narrative doesn’t look to me like a support for Jackson at all – on the contrary, the remark that Michael has “few friends” and his future is now “unpredictable” conveys a slightly uneasy message and even looks like a faint threat.

In other words, by the year 1995 when the lyrics scandal broke out and considering his close ties with Weinraub it could be David Geffen who could first encourage Michael with those lyrics, but then arrange their leak to the media to present his former friend in the most unfavorable light. And though this is a supposition only, you will agree that it would be very much Geffen’s style.

DO IT, MICHAEL!

Michael Jackson also said that before the song release all his Jewish friends and partners had heard the lyrics “over and over” and obviously none of them objected to them. Sandy Gallin, Michael’s personal manager and Geffen’s best friend even called them “brilliant”.

Sandy Gallin. New York City 01.09.10 Credit: Joseph Marzullo /Wenn.com

Michael Jackson pleaded with Sandy Gallin to go on TV and explain that he wasn’t an anti-Semite, but his plea was met with a flat refusal. And all those whom Michael expected to come out in his support didn’t respond either.

“Michael Jackson Inc.” by Zack O. Greenburg says about it:

“The New York Times called the lyrics “a burst of anti-Semitism” days before the album was released, and Jackson was slammed by scores of media outlets and organizations including the Anti-Defamation League.

Jackson insisted that he’d been misunderstood, and apologized for any pain he’d caused. []

The damage had been done, though, both externally and internally. Shortly after the Times review was published, Jackson asked Gallin, who is Jewish, to go on television and explain that he wasn’t an anti-Semite. Gallin knew his client didn’t have a bias against Jews, but didn’t think getting on the talk show circuit was a good idea. He figured nobody knew who he was, and that they’d expect Jackson’s manager to stand up for him anyway.

In fact, Jackson thought all his Jewish friends, including David Geffen and Steven Spielberg, would take to the airwaves to defend him. He soon found they shared Gallin’s view. “I don’t think they really thought he was anti-Semitic,” says the manager. “But they weren’t going to go on television. He wrote the lyric and he had to stop and explain it.”

This only made Jackson push Gallin harder, to no avail. “He tried to convince me to do it,” Gallin recalls. “I knew it was the wrong thing to do, I wouldn’t do it. He was very upset about all of this, and he thought that maybe I thought he was anti-Semitic. And he fired me.”

Jackson immediately stopped talking to Gallin, and his relationships with Geffen and Spielberg suffered a similar fate.”

Given that Gallin withdrew at the crucial moment though he hadn’t found fault with those lyrics before, the situation reminds me of another episode in Michael’s cooperation with Gallin that took place in 1991.

When the ‘Black Or White’ video was made for the previous ‘Dangerous’ album, Landis objected to Michael’s crotch grabbing and it was Sandy Gallin who vehemently encouraged Michael to proceed. Steve Knopper says about it in his “MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson” book:

“Landis struggled on the set to contain MJ’s sexual expression. At one point, as Michael reached into his crotch, Landis yelled, “Cut!” and told Michael to knock it off – this was a family production. [ ] They asked choreographer Vince Paterson for his opinion; he agreed with Landis. But Michael insisted on calling Gallin, his manager. “Sandy was a screaming queen. A very flamboyant homosexual,” Landis said. “Sandy Gallin comes to the set, looks at the playback, and goes, ‘Do it, Michael! Do it! Do it!’”

However I don’t remember Sandy Gallin defending Michael when the video was released and another firestorm ensued. Nor did Gallin say that it was he who encouraged Michael Jackson to “do it”.

It seems that Gallin had a pattern to first support and even induce Michael to take certain actions and then leave him alone to face the music and deal with the consequences single-handedly, didn’t he?

DISCREPANCIES

The official story goes that Michael stopped talking to Gallin “immediately” after the lyrics scandal (in June 1995) and soon thereafter the split with Geffen and Spielberg followed.

However if you recall the date of that long Vanity Fair article this post started with, you will realize that it was written almost a year later, in April 1996, and even at that time Gallin was still claiming that he was Michael’s manager.

And indeed, the official notice of termination of Gallin’s company services arrived only in February 1997.

This huge discrepancy in time shouldn’t surprise anyone as we now know that there can’t be “a worse bunch of liars that the ones in Hollywood”, so in search for the minimal truth we can consider the following options:

• The falling out with Gallin and his friends indeed took place in mid-1995 and from then on Michael Jackson went without a personal manager
• Officially Gallin could still be there though there was no communication with MJ, so for the remaining period until February 1997 he did little or nothing for Michael (while Jim Morey stayed and took care of the History tour)
• Michael was unwilling (or afraid) to confront Gallin and Geffen openly, so he let their cooperation die out in an natural way, and this may explain the long period between the actual split and the formal termination.

The options are many, but what’s absolutely clear is that even in case Sandy Gallin did absolutely nothing for Michael Jackson for a year and a half after that incident, the latter was still paying him the fee of seven figures annually.

SMALL WORLD

World is a small place, and in February 1997 we meet the same media players who were involved in the 1995 lyrics scandal again.

Army Archerd, the Daily Variety columnist who had earlier urged Michael to kill his song, was now the first to report that Gallin Morey Associates would be replaced as Michael Jackson’s managers by Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal and his Kingdom Entertainment company (created with MJ three years earlier, in 1994).

Besides breaking the news Archerd portrayed Michael’s professional life as such a mess that it sent a clear message to the public that Gallin and his associates should be happy to be relieved of their unbearable duties.

SAUDI PRINCE’S CO. TAKES OVER JACKSON BIZ

By ARMY ARCHERD

FEBRUARY 3, 1997

Saudi Arabian Prince al-Waleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Entertainment will replace Sandy Gallin-Jim Morey Associates in all of Michael Jackson’s endeavors.

Jim Morey got word of the decision when he was en route to their BevHills offices from Paris and London, after putting together the second leg of Michael Jackson’s tour. The managers have represented Jackson for the past 6 years, through thick and thin. (In fact, when I had called Gallin awhile back, he was quick to agree that Jackson’s lyrics in “HIStory” were out of line and should be changed — and they were.) Another thorn (in Jackson’s professional life, that is) was the “Jackson Family Honors” concert-TV special in Las Vegas two years ago.

Monday, Gary Smith dropped the fraud case against the family to clear the way of getting verdicts on the other two cases before federal Judge Laughlin Waters. Waters can now decide if Jackson broke his promise to perform and whether the Jackson production company JCI and Michael personally are responsible for $1.5 million in excess costs — a result of Michael not showing up for the original event in Atlantic City in December 1993. Smith-Hemion won its case against JCI for $1.7 million, but the claim has never been able to be collected. Gary Smith also has a case pending before state court Justice Sherman Smith that could force Jackson to pay the money to JCI, which would then be collectible by Smith-Hemion. Still with us?

All that happened while Gallin-Morey managed Michael and were involved with all phases of Jackson’s biz, from concert to pix and legit development. Jackson’s showbiz activities are now in the realm of Kingdom Entertainment.

The Jackson Family Honors is an off-topic of course, but let me still decipher it for you. JCI stands for Jackson Communications, Inc – a company conceived by Jermaine Jackson and the Jackson parents in 1992. The ‘Jackson Family Honors’ was a televised charity event arranged by this company that was to be aired on NBC on December 11, 1993.

As a personal favor to his family Michael Jackson agreed to make his appearance with no obligation to perform, but present the awards only. The show was postponed until February 1994 due to Chandler’s allegations and Michael’s treatment abroad, and when it took place it was essentially a flop. Michael had nothing to do with the organization or finances for the show, but nevertheless became the subject of the usual ridicule.

The above piece is an example of that sarcasm, which in this case is meant to show how big and messy was the burden Gallin and Morey had finally shaken off their shoulders.

Now what did Sandy Gallin do after he was relieved of his unbearable duties?

A NEW PROJECT

A year and a half later, in the summer of 1998 the all-too familiar Bernard Weinraub, the LA correspondent of the NY Times emerged in the Las Vegas Sun with the news that Sandy Gallin was to handle another big project.

The owner of Las Vegas Mirage casino Steve Wynn set up a subsidiary to develop new theaters, arenas and cabarets, and create shows with a view to take them to Broadway, and Barry Diller suggested his friend Sandy Gallin as the head of this new project to which Steve Wynn enthusiastically agreed.

Mirage hires top manager to build new entertainment lineup

Bernard Weinraub

Thursday, June 4, 1998 | 10:41 a.m.

Steve Wynn, 2017

In a move designed to alter the type of entertainment now seen in Las Vegas, Stephen Wynn, chairman of Mirage Resorts Inc., announced the appointment Wednesday of Sandy Gallin, a top talent manager, to join his company and start new theaters, arenas and cabarets.

Wynn, who helped transform modern-day casinos into legitimate businesses with entertainment suitable for families, said he had hired Gallin to create theatrical shows that will eventually end up on Broadway.

“I don’t see anything in New York we can’t do as well or better here in Las Vegas,” said Wynn. “We will have relationships with creative people in New York and London. I foresee a time when a hit musical will open in Las Vegas and have a second venue in New York.”

Gallin, 57, a talent manager for more than 30 years, now oversees the careers of performers such as Neil Diamond, Dolly Parton and Mariah Carey. Over the years he has also handled Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg and Richard Pryor. Gallin’s company, Gallin-Morey Associates, also produced films like “Father of the Bride” and “Fly Away Home,” as well as the television series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Gallin said he would spend the bulk of his time in Las Vegas but would still serve in a consulting role with his management company, which will be run by his long-time partner, Jim Morey, who was named chairman. Gallin said he would continue his management relationship with some of his most important clients “as long as they’ll have me.”

But the bulk of Gallin’s time will be spent developing what he termed “new and different entertainment for Las Vegas, attracting people who normally don’t work in Las Vegas.”

“We’re making friends and forming relationships with Broadway people,” Wynn said.

The LA Times reported that Wynn and Gallin were brought together by Barry Diller, whose dedication to his friends Gallin and Geffen was so big that Diller even called it a “cradle to grave” union:

Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn on Wednesday hired longtime Hollywood talent manager and producer Sandy Gallin to head his Mirage Entertainment & Sports Inc.

In an interview, Wynn said Gallin was suggested to him by mogul Barry Diller, a longtime friend of Gallin. Wynn said he envisions developing extensive entertainment such as live theater for Mirage’s Las Vegas properties, possibly even taking shows on the road.

The book by Christina Binkley first published in 2008 under the title “Winner Takes All: How Casino Mogul Steve Wynn Won And Lost The High Stakes Gamble To Own Las Vegas” tells us what came of those plans.

Surprisingly, the chapter about Gallin starts with nothing else but mentioning the so-called Velvet Mafia including Gallin, Diller and Geffen, which Steve Wynn was apparently happy to be involved with.  Wynn said that “they always stick together” and “are wonderful”.

The author says that Steve Wynn met all the members of this business group and liked them very much, so the “Velvet Mafia” expression was used by Wynn in a very friendly and even affectionate way, just as a term to define the closely-knit and powerful group of business people (not necessarily gay) who “hold sway in Hollywood.”

Here is an excerpt from chapter 15 of the book.

Steve Wynn about Sandy Gallin’s gang: “They’re all wonderful.”

“I had a wonderful day yesterday,” Steve Wynn said, sounding pleased and a little giddy – the way he behaves when he’s feeling creatively satisfed. “Elaine and Sandy and Eydie Gorme and I were dancing around.”

“Sandy was Sandy Gallin, a Los Angeles talent manager often mentioned in the press as a member of the so-called Velvet Mafia. This was a group of friends, some gay (but not all), who hold sway in Hollywood. Other supposed members of the Velvet Mafia are David Geffen, the music producer, and Barry Diller, the media mogul.

That whole gang of the gay guys – they always stick together, really, really, really,” Wynn said. “And they’re all wonderful.”

Barry Diller, who is married to the designer Diane von Furstenberg, put Wynn together with Gallin after Wynn insisted he wanted to “redefine the entertainment industry” in Las Vegas. 

“There’s nothing they do in New York that we can’t do just as well here, “ Wynn said.

Wynn was aware that he had changed the quality of entertainment in Las Vegas, with Cirque du Soleil.  Wynn was bent on bringing something even newer to the entertainment scene, and of course, he looked to his own interests for inspiration. He wanted to produce live theater. He would create a stable of his own Broadway-style productions for Mirage casinos in Las Vegas, Mississippi, and soon, Atlantic City – maybe even take his shows on the road. He talked about establishing a movie and television company. He formed a new subsidiary, Mirage Entertainment & Sports Inc.

In June he hired Sandy Gallin to run this new subsidiary.

Gallin looks weirdly like Steve Wynn. It’s something about the dyed-black hair, the strange cosmetic tautness, the visible hunger for attention. Wynn was so enthusiastic about Gallin that he agreed to pay his new entertainment guru more than he paid his right-hand, Bobby Baldwin.

Gallin ditched everything he’d built in Hollywood for a seven-year contract at Mirage Resorts worth $2,5 million a year in salary and bonus.

Gallin promised to relocate to Las Vegas from Los Angeles; he turned his embattled talent agency, Gallin-Morey Associates over to his partner Jim Morey; and he folded the production company, Sandollar Productions, that he ran with Dolly Parton.

And the following was a year later:

Gallin did not make himself popular among his new colleagues. He was widely thought to be “an absolute idiot” who said little during key meetings and neglected important details, said Dan Lee, who sat through many of them.

For a part of Belllagio’s opening festivities, at Gallin’s direction, Mirage Resorts hired a philarmonic orchestra and arrayed them behind the fountains to accompany the dancing waters. It turned out that the sound wouldn’t carry over the noise of the splashing. The musicians were told to do the orchestral equivalent of a lip-synch, Lee says.

So perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising that a year later, Mirage Resorts didn’t have a lot to show for Gallin’s costly presence. He still hadn’t made the move to Las Vegas, and there was no stable of theatrical shows or television and movie deals in the works.

One evening in later September 1999 Gallin joined the Wynns for dinner in Las Vegas. There, Wynn accepted Gallin’s resignation – just three weeks after he had fired Dan Lee.

At first, Gallin and Wynn kept up the pretense that it was a friendly parting from a successful relationship. “It really was a reevaluation of my life,” Gallin said a day later. []

”I lost Sandy Gallin. It’s murder.” Wynn said the day of Gallin’s departure. “Elaine and I are so depressed.”

But Wynn seemed to recover from his depression with alacrity. “I need somebody different than him, actually,” Wynn continued cheerily.“I need a really serious production manager. A schedules guy. A shopping guy. Or a girl, for that matter. I don’t need a deal maker. I’ve met everybody in show business now.”

Well, the above result could be easily expected. At the annual fee of $2,5 million Gallin just introduced Steve Wynn to “everybody in show business” – and apparently, that was it.

Wynn made it very clear that this was not enough and that now he needed a serious production manager, which Gallin absolutely wasn’t. And he wasn’t a “schedules guy” either – but this we already knew from other sources.

It took Michael Jackson 6 years to see that his career was similarly mismanaged or, most probably, he realized it much earlier, but lacked courage to part with Gallin and his team.  Steve Wynn was much quicker and braver as he got Gallin to resign just a year later, even despite his seven-year contract with him.

But judging by all that follow-up pretense of a friendly parting, even for Steve Wynn it wasn’t an easy decision, and it is probably in this context that the word “mafia”, so suddenly introduced by Wynn into the narration, should be understood here too.

PERSONAL INSULT

To round up our discussion of Sandy Gallin and his “gang” working with Michael Jackson during that crucial period there is one more source that has not been covered yet but is probably the most valuable of all. It provides the view of an insider, friendly to Sandy Gallin, who worked at his company for around 10 years and who discloses much more than any of the above sources taken together.

I am talking about Shana Mangatal who worked as a receptionist at Gallin Morey Associates exactly at the time when Gallin was Michael’s manager, and who naturally had a crush on MJ and recently published the book “Michael and Me: The Untold Story of Michael Jackson’s Secret Romance”.

The romance I don’t care about and the book may have the flaws of its own, but Shana’s down-to-earth description of Gallin’s company as well as the entertainment industry, Hollywood and their crazy ways is something really special. This awesome description made my day and will surely make yours.

Surprisingly, Shana also introduces her boss Sandy Gallin and his friends as the Velvet Mafia, so I am beginning to think that by now it is a kind of a set expression, used publicly and in good society, to denote the phenomenon of exceptional power and influence of a very tight group of several power players who  “hold sway” (dominate) in Hollywood now.

Here are some excerpts from the book – consider them a New Year gift to all those present here. One of these excerpts will tell you the real reason why Geffen ceased to be Michael’s close friend.

Not only is this the anniversary of Prince’s passing, it’s also the one year anniversary of the death of my former boss and @michaeljackson manager, Sandy Gallin. This is us with #DollyParton in 1997. #MichaelJackson #michaelandme pic.twitter.com/HwDNunWxnM

— Shana Mangatal (@ImShanaMangatal) April 21, 2018

Shana Mangatal:

Gallin Morey Associates was one of the hottest music and talent management companies of the ‘90s. … for seven years, I was front and center in this exclusive enclave of dream makers.

Sandy Gallin was a flamboyant and charming Hollywood power player. His best friend was billionaire David Geffen. Together they knew everybody. They were a part of the so-called Velvet Mafia, which consisted of some of the most powerful gay executives in town.

Another of Sandy’s best friends was screen legend Elizabeth Taylor. Several times a day, Elizabeth called Sandy to discuss the latest Hollywood gossip. Her favorite topic of conversation – Michael Jackson. Sometimes she called so often that Sandy had to dodge her calls by asking me to tell her he wasn’t there. The funny thing is that she always knew when I was lying.

…Sandy Gallin was one of those bosses you could only find in Hollywood. He meditated daily with a turbaned guru named Gurmukh and fired his assistants on an almost weekly basis. I often heard him screaming at them for making the smallest mistake. I watched as they ran out of the office crying, never to return.

…Sometimes he would even throw things at them. The more they showed fear, the more he would attack. Most didn’t last long. But Sandy had a charm about him that made him difficult to dislike. He was funny, with an edgy wit, and was always nice to me. I grew to love him and, thankfully, I was never subjected to any of his tirades.

Jim Morey was the opposite of Sandy: loved by all. He was friendly and a genuinely nice guy, a family man, married with kids, and a dream boss. He was the more conservative one, wearing designer suits, smelling of rich cologne and always carrying a briefcase. He and Sandy evened each other out – yin and yang – the perfect partnership. He gave me advice and helped me navigate the crazy world I was now a part of.

My desk was the calm in the middle of the storm and often I acted as a therapist, encouraging the assistants to hang in there…

Some of those assistants were the young, gay, handsome boys Sandy met at his famous weekly pool parties, which were held at his sprawling mansion in Beverly Hills or his beach home in Malibu. Most of these boys were fresh off the bus from small towns across the country. They harbored dreams of becoming rich or famous – or both. I chuckled every time a new one stepped off the elevator for his first day on the job. They were so fresh-faced and eager. That excitement never lasted long.

I somehow managed to stay at the company for nearly a decade – a record, I’m sure. Over those years, I witnessed the birth of many legends and had a front-row seat to the wild and wacky music industry, which was thriving in those heady days of the ‘90s.

My first month on the job, I was invited to one of Sandy’s famous parties. They were a thing of legend something you only read about in magazines. Think The Great Gatsby. This would be my first real Hollywood party. I hadn’t even turned twenty-one yet, so to say I was naïve and unsophisticated would be an understatement.

…Something told me this was not going to be an ordinary party. The bash was being thrown in honor of Sandy’s boyfriend, Tom. It was his birthday. Tom was drop-dead gorgeous, with impossibly deep dimples and a sweet midwestern personality. He worked at Gallin Morey as a junior music manager. I had no idea he was gay or Sandy’s boyfriend until this night.  He was so cute I’d actually developed a crush on him during my short time at the company. Sandy was obviously besotted as well, because the party was extravagant.

…While I stood in awe, not knowing which way to turn first, I spotted Madonna. Yes, that Madonna. I had gone through my Madonna phase as a teenager, emulating her unique style of dress and watching her videos nonstop, so this was exciting, As I walked closer, I became disappointed. She didn’t look anything like she did in her music videos. She barely had on any makeup. Her hair was jet black and looked like it could use a wash – it was pulled back off her face. She wore a baggy T-shirt and shorts that were too big for her, with flat shoes and knee-high socks. She was also short, which I didn’t expect.

…She was thirty-two years old at this time but looked like a schoolgirl gone bad. Her demeanor was that of someone who was under the influence of something. I’m not sure if she actually was, but she was acting spacey. I overheard her saying, “I don’t do the blue ones,” I imagined she was discussing pills, as most of Hollywood seemed to be on them and other drugs.

Madonna had met Michael for the first time a few months earlier, at Sandy’s previous party. They had spent the entire night sitting on the steps in Sandy’s foyer talking.

…Michael loved to tell the story of his first date with Madonna. According to him, she came to his condo in nothing but a robe and tried to seduce him. But Madonna’s plan didn’t work. Her aggression turned him off.

Although he rebuffed her advances that night, he seriously reconsidered his decision, wondering if perhaps he should’ve tried it out. He asked a few of his male friends, including music producer Teddy Riley, for advice. “Should I do her?” he asked. His friends all told him to go for it. Most guys weren’t turning down Madonna at that time. She was just as famous as Michael and considered a sex symbol, having just released her controversial book, Sex. But he decided against it and the great hookup of Michael and Madonna never happened.

The drinks were free and endless at this Sandy Gallin party and everybody was indulging except me. I kept the same glass of champagne in my hand the entire night. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to drive home if I drank more than that. Terence Trent D’Arby, whose hit song “Sign Your Name’ had recently made him a star, was also there and appeared to have had one too many. I stood behind him in line for the bathroom. He became impatient because whoever was in the bathroom was taking a long time. After about ten minutes of waiting, he banged on the door shouting, “You’re taking too long!”

…To our surprise, when the door opened all three members of the Pointer Sisters came stumbling out, looking embarrassed. Terence hurried in without speaking another word and was out quickly. I went in after him and could smell the distinct smell of marijuana. That night I learned why people in Hollywood always went to the bathroom together and took forever to finish.

And here is a little touch to David Geffen’s portrait which explains how and under what circumstances his partnership with Michael Jackson frayed and why they eventually parted ways.

Sandy’s best friend, David Geffen, was also there. At that moment, he was the richest, most powerful man in town. He sported a perpetual tan and a certain je ne sais quoi that made him irresistible. David and Sandy were both in their late forties but in incredible shape, able to attract any young, hot guy they desired. Everyone wanted to know David, and, at this time, Michael Jackson was no different.

David and Michael had become fast friends, and David introduced Michael to Sandy. That’s how Michael became Sandy’s client. There were even rumors that David and Michael were secretly dating. I wondered if this was true. No one really knew what Michael’s sexual orientation was at this time  but everyone speculated about it. He had managed to keep that side of himself ambiguous even to those who knew him well.

Years later, I asked Michael about David and why they were no longer close friends (Michael managed to fall out with most of his friends every few years). I don’t know how true it is, because Michael was known to exaggerate on occasion, but he said that David had tried to seduce him, attempting to kiss him, and, according to Michael, he refused. Their friendship was strained after that. This story sounded surprisingly similar to the one about Madonna.

One thing was for sure: men and women were both intrigued by Michael’s natural charm. To know him was to be in love with him. Many had tried and failed to seduce him.”

Shana Mangatal about Michael Jackson and David Geffen

Oh my God, Geffen attempted to seduce him in the same way Madonna tried it, but Michael rejected him… And their relations were “strained” after that… And this is the main reason Michael gave as to why they were no longer close friends…

And what if he also said something to Geffen? And quoted the Bible as was his habit?

Geffen befriended Jackson in 1982 and officially parted ways with him sometime in 1995. And now we learn that at some point in between those dates Geffen made a pass at Michael, and Michael sort of snubbed him.

The importance of what you’ve just learned shouldn’t be underestimated. Other famous people were ruined by Geffen for much lighter offenses, and were never or little heard of since then, even despite their sparkling talent (like Donna Summer, for example).

And Michael’s refusal was a personal insult to Geffen, and knowing the latter’s vindictiveness beginning with that moment Michael could say good-bye to his career.

People who know David Geffen personally say that if he is your friend, he will do anything for you, but if he turns into your enemy “you might as well kill yourself.”

Michael Jackson didn’t know it, but from that moment on the ruining of his career was just a matter of time.