'Madonna was a ruthless diva and Michael Jackson weak': Manager Ron Weisner on some of the biggest pop stars on the planet



Tantrums, breakdowns, fall-outs... as manager of some of the biggest pop stars on the planet, Ron Weisner has seen it all. Here he reveals why he walked out on the Material Girl (‘one of the most unpleasant people I’ve ever dealt with’), tried to kidnap Jacko – and begged George Michael to come out

'She (Madonna) was one of the most unpleasant people I've ever had to deal with,' said Ron Weisner

Writhing in mock ecstasy, Madonna tossed back her head and pouted towards the camera.



Moments later, with a real lion by her side, she stalked through the courtyard of a magnificent Italian palazzo. But as the director yelled, ‘Cut!’, the singer’s face turned puce.



In a split second, her sensuality was replaced by ‘all-out rage’ as she launched into a screaming tirade at the film crew.



‘She was constantly screaming at them, telling them they were a ‘bunch of f****** idiots,’ recalls Ron Weisner, her long-suffering manager at the time.



The video shoot for Like A Virgin would cement Madonna’s place as a bona fide star and help turn her into a global pop icon.



But for several turbulent days on location in Venice, Italy, in 1984 it was, recalls Weisner, ‘like a fury had been unleashed’.



‘When I bitched back at her she retaliated by banning me from the set for the day.’



It was the last straw for Weisner.



‘I knew Like A Virgin would make her a global star, and it did, but I also knew I had to walk away from her.’



For Weisner, now 69, Madonna’s diva-like behaviour was the beginning of the end of their relationship: ‘There was no doubting her talent and ambition,’ he says, ‘but to call her a prima donna and diva is an understatement.



'In all my years in the music business, she was one of the most unpleasant people I’ve ever had to deal with.



'The Like A Virgin shoot made me realise that life’s just too short to deal with people like Madonna.



'Sure, she would have been worth millions to me in earnings, but nothing is worth the price of selling your soul to the devil.’

'From the beginning there was something other-worldly about Michael (Jackson). On stage he was the most talented performer I've ever seen. But off stage he was a child,' said Ron (pictured with the superstar in 1978)

Weisner was already a powerhouse in the music industry when he first met a fresh-faced Madonna in 1982 through his business partner Freddy DeMann.



Soft-spoken and serious, Weisner would go on to represent a Who’s Who of the music industry, including Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, George Michael and Gladys Knight.

But the brash young Madonna Ciccone from Michigan was ‘a force of nature’ when she walked into Weisner’s New York offices.



Weisner recalls: ‘She was by no means the best singer I’d ever encountered, nor the best dancer.



'But she oozed confidence and determination. There was a ruthlessness about her and a toughness that I’d never seen before.



'She was the perfect storm at the perfect time. She had the clothes, the attitude, the catchy tunes.



'And she had a take-no-prisoners attitude towards fame. There was no doubt in my mind – or hers – that she was going to be a massive star.



‘She wanted fame and celebrity with every fibre in her body, and she would do anything to get it.



'Her aim from the beginning was to shock... in the way she dressed, acted and moved on stage.



'These days, with stars like Miley Cyrus, there’s very little that shocks any more. But back then no one had pushed the boundaries like Madonna.



'Was Michael normal? Absolutely not. But did he abuse children? Never. There was an innocence about Michael but also an ignorance,' said Ron

'She craved attention and still does. You only have to look at how she acts now, with her toyboys and the way she still shows off her body at every opportunity.



'It worked when she was in her 20s but for a woman in her 50s it smacks of desperation.



‘I remember at one concert in Seattle we had a young audience, 12-and 13-year-olds with their mothers. We told her to “go easy” on stage but of course she did the opposite.



'She was highly sexually provocative and afterwards the mothers all left the concert and you could hear them talking in shock about what they’d just seen.

'But Madonna was shameless. She would say: “This is what’s going to get people talking. This is what will make me a star.” But that wasn’t the sort of “fame” I wanted to be around.



'I had real artists like Paul McCartney. It was time to walk away.’



Weisner parted company with Madonna in 1985. His ex-partner DeMann would represent her until 1997, earning millions in the process.



Does Weisner ever regret letting her go? ‘Not for one second.’



While Weisner’s name is virtually unknown outside the tight-knit world of the music business, he in fact helped craft the careers of some of the biggest names in pop.



One of his biggest clients was Michael Jackson. He was originally hired by Joe Jackson to represent The Jackson Five in the late Seventies, but would go on to manage Michael at the peak of his megastardom during the Off The Wall and Thriller years.



He last spoke to Michael less than 24 hours before his death.



'She (Madonna) was by no means the best singer I'd ever encountered, nor the best dancer. But she oozed confidence and determination. There was a ruthlessness about her and a toughness,' said Ron

‘We remained close to the end. Michael was rehearsing for the London O2 shows in downtown Los Angeles.

'I went to see him and was shocked at what I saw. He looked like someone who had come from a concentration camp. He was clearly sick, weak and suffering.



'I said, “Michael, you need to take more care of yourself.” He smiled and said, “I know, Ron, I know. But this show has to be the biggest and the best ever.”



'Right to the end Michael was a perfectionist. He wanted everything to be as good as it could be, but his body wasn’t up to it.



‘We said our goodbyes and the next day LaToya called me from the hospital and told me he was gone.’



In his new tell-all book Listen Out Loud, Weisner describes family patriarch Joe Jackson as ‘a hustler who was always trying to bully and cheat his way to an extra dime’.



'Her aim from the beginning was to shock,' said Ron of Madonna

Over lunch in a sunny cafe near his home in Santa Monica, California, Weisner tells me: ‘I was representing Gladys Knight and had a roster of famous names and Joe came in and started off by telling me he needed a “white Jewish guy” to deal with the record company.



‘He treated the Jacksons like his personal cash cow. Joe and I had massive confrontations on a weekly basis. He would accuse me of being “a Jew just out for yourself”.



'I took it in the hope I could protect Michael and give him space to create his magic. But he was petrified of his father.’



Weisner developed a particularly close friendship with Michael who he describes as ‘almost like a son to me.’



He says: ‘From the beginning there was something other-worldly about Michael.



'On stage he was the most talented performer I’ve ever seen.



'But off stage he was a child, permanently damaged by his abusive father and was always seeking the childhood that had been denied him.



‘Michael was terrified of his father. That’s why he always wanted to be white. He didn’t want to be reminded of Joe Jackson.’



Weisner says that once Michael launched his solo career he became like a surrogate parent to the superstar, accompanying him on trips to Disneyland and pandering to his every whim, including once being dragged out of bed to go to watch Liberace perform.



On another occasion, Weisner was watching Top Of The Pops in his London hotel room when Adam Ant came on.



‘He looked incredible, wearing this military-style uniform. Michael flipped out. I went to a costume shop and bought up dozens of military uniforms and had our costume-maker turn them into stage suits.



'Later I said to Michael, “Are you going to credit Adam Ant for giving you the inspiration?” but he never did.’



The manager says he witnessed Michael with young boys but never believed he was a child molester.



‘Was Michael normal? Absolutely not. But did he abuse children? Never. There was an innocence about Michael but also an ignorance.



On Paul McCartney: 'He's one of the most consummate professionals I ever met,' he said

'My own son was around him from a very young age and I trusted Michael completely. He was a man-child. He never grew up. He loved children because they were the only ones who never took advantage of him.’



Weisner says Jackson’s drug problems were evident for years.



He even attempted to stage an intervention, which he now admits ‘was more like a kidnapping’, ten years before the superstar’s death from a propofol overdose at the hands of Dr Conrad Murray.



He explains: ‘It was clear Michael was abusing prescription pills. I was no longer his manager by this stage but we still spoke regularly.



'I called LaToya and told her we needed to do something.



'Michael was in Bahrain and I arranged for a team to get him and a plane to take him to a rehab facility in the Caribbean.



'But two days before it was all set to go down, LaToya freaked out and called it off. Something had rattled her. I never found out what.’



Weisner also represented Paul McCartney, and arranged for McCartney and Jackson to record their famous duet The Girl Is Mine (1982). But he says McCartney was later devastated when Jackson ‘betrayed’ him over a business deal.

‘Michael was obsessed by The Beatles’ back catalogue. He grilled Paul about how the business worked and Paul was patient and answered every question in great detail.

'Three years later, Michael bought The Beatles’ back catalogue from under Paul’s nose.



'Paul felt terribly betrayed by this. He didn’t speak to Michael again until the late Eighties.



'I was there when they made their peace, but it was an uneasy truce.’



McCartney hired Weisner to promote his 1989 album and tour Flowers In The Dirt.



‘Paul was unflappable. He’s a legend but people still mess him around.



'Back then he was forced to do all sorts of press and make appearances he’d probably rather miss. But he never grumbled. He’d turn up at radio stations in the middle of nowhere, always with a smile.



'He’s one of the most consummate professionals I ever met.’



Weisner also represented Wham! in the Eighties. He shrugs when asked about recent press reports about George Michael becoming a recluse: ‘George was another huge talent who was tormented by demons.



'He struggled with his sexuality for years. I remember saying to him, “It doesn’t matter. People won’t care if you’re gay, they only care about the music”.

'But back in the Eighties he was convinced if he came out his career would be over.



‘So he struggled with masking his true self and that led to depression and drugs, which he has talked about publicly.



'There’s a dark side to George and even today he’s struggling with it. He’s hidden himself away for years.



'It’s sad but I’ve seen it time and again.’

