CBS now has two enemies: the first is, of course, Charlie Sheen, but the second one (as of Friday) is Bret Michaels. Last week, Bret filed a lawsuit against the network when his Rock of Ages performance at the 2009 Tony Awards resulted in a broken nose and stitches in his lip. When the incident initially occurred, Michaels’ representative — Joann Mignano — told the Associated Press that Michaels was hit in the head by a piece of scenery that was being lowered down, but clarified that the injuries her client sustained weren’t because he had “missed his mark.” Instead, Mignano insisted that Bret’s injuries were, in fact, CBS’ fault because they had not informed him of the specifics of the set’s descent. In a statement on behalf of Michaels, Mignano said (once again, way back in 2009), “If everyone at the Tonys [was] aware that Bret missed his mark, then they should have been aware enough to stop the set piece from hitting him or at least slowed it down until he cleared the stage. I feel had this incident happened to Liza Minnelli, Dolly Parton or Elton John, the Tonys would have at least issued a letter of concern…In this situation Bret was not on his stage but was at the mercy of the Tonys…and had the reasonable expectation of safety of the artist was a priority.”
The lawsuit Bret, claims producers were reluctant to accept any responsibility for the accident and instead placed all the blame on him. The trial also suggests that Bret suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage in April 2010 was caused by a conflict with the whole piece in Tonys, and says “One of the most common causes of such bleeding is a head injury – just like the one suffered at Michaels the hands of Tony Awards. “Although there is no word on how much money Michaels seeks to compensate, the team of Bret claims he was unaware of the dangers of the track is, and he was given instructions on how it could go right to the scene even if asked. At the trial, counsel Michaels ยป, Alex Weingarten, said:” Tony Award dropped a piece of the stage head Bret, and then instead of doing the right thing, joked about it and played off for the audience … Bret never wanted to file a lawsuit, but the Tony Awards have left us with no choice. Should be held accountable for almost killing Bret, and that is what we do. ”
All I can say is the girls on all those Rock of Love buses better get their stories straight because they’re probably guilty of a lot worse than a rogue backdrop.
