4 things we learned during Andy’s chat with talent manager Sandy Gallin

Sandy Gallin is a legendary talent manager who has guided the careers of Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Whoopi Goldberg, Cher, Mariah Carey and more. Gallin rarely gives interviews, but during his visit on Andy Cohen’s Deep & Shallow on Radio Andy, he revealed some interesting tidbits about his experience as a manager to the stars.

1. Here’s why Michael Jackson’s plans to build a Neverland theme park were scrapped

During Michael Jackson’s tour in Israel Gallin scheduled a meeting with an entrepreneur from Asia to discuss ideas to build a Neverland theme park. Those plans never came to fruition because Jackson kept them waiting for hours after his concert had ended, and when he sat down for their presentation of their plans he had two children sitting on his lap.

“You now have 45 people presenting ‘Neverland’ to these two kids. I’m thinking, ‘The papers are gonna be downstairs at 5:30, the phone is gonna start ringing, I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve got to get Michael back in his room, and I’ve got to get this people out of here.’ And I did, and of course that was the end of ‘Neverland.'”

2. Dolly Parton didn’t want to record her hit single, Here You Come Again

Dolly Parton’s Here You Come Again was a huge crossover hit, but she initially had reservations about the song and Gallin had to convince her to record it.

“She said, ‘A monkey can sing this song and have a hit with it.’ She was very nervous that it would turn off the country market, which she was very loyal to. There was no way she wanted to ever let anything insinuate that she may be turning her back on the country audience to go to pop.”

3. Whoopi Goldberg fired Gallin because of his duty to Michael Jackson

As you can imagine, managing Michael Jackson is no easy task. Some of Gallin’s other clients were concerned by all the attention Jackson received, but Gallin says Whoopi Goldberg was the only person to fire him because of Jackson.

“She said, ‘Sandy, Michael Jackson is not an artist that you manage. It’s like running a country, and you are not gonna have time to represent me properly. There’s no way, and I’m gonna leave.'”

4. Diana Ross saved him from a potential fight

Gallin had a heated meeting with German music producer Frank Farian when he tried to tell Gallin that Milli Vanilli can’t sing. When things escalated, Diana Ross intervened.

“Diana Ross is in the restaurant and she comes over to the table and she says, ‘My bodyguards are outside, is there a problem here?’ I said, ‘No, everything will be fine.’ She said, ‘It doesn’t look fine to me!’

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