Bret Michaels' Representatives Issue Statement Regarding Tony Award Injury

There was set flying in & out during the entire opening, how could he not expect it to be involved while he was doing his bit. If he was busy showboating he would have noticed that the band had gone back up to their platform & that a set piece was coming down.

Why is he even to going to bother suing? He has more money than he knows what to do with. It was punishment for lip-synching(badly) at an award show honoring live performance.

There is definitely something fishy going on with the claim that he wasn't told about the flying scenery. Anyway, he had it coming for his excessive bow to an audience that didn't care.

He was showboating plain & simple.

Updated On: 11/11/16 at 11:11 PM

Even though he made it during rehearsal I think he might have a case given everything that went wrong that night. Someone was clearly not doing their job. However, I'd also like to see his contract. I've signed contacts before that contained a clause about flying scenery and scenery that gets tracked on and how it has the potential to be dangerous if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. I believe it stated that it was my responsibility to look out for my own safety, but that I was covered under their insurance while under contract. I'm not 100% sure on the exact wording, but anyway that was non-equity.

BM has no legal case. They state in the release that BM was never warned about a lowering set piece at any time.

But the youtube video of the dress rehearsal clearly shows BM and the cast performing their part, then retreating backstage AS THE EXACT SAME set piece comes down at the exact same speed at the exact same time as it did that evening. Michaels was right there. If he wasn't aware it would be coming down, it's cause he forgot plain and simple. Entirely his fault if he didn't know it would be dropping at what time.

Secondly, he could have easily ducked under the thing, had he seen it - which supposedly, he didn't cause he was a) preening for the crowd - varying from his actions in rehearsal and b) wearing a stupid cowboy hat - both of which were HIS DECISION. Pretty sure the TONY people didn't request the hat, or tell him how to dress at all. Point being, the people in charge of lowering it, had no real reson to think that BM wouldn't be able to duck under it, since he should have seen it in time.

Then the PR whines and postures regarding the fact that the set kept coming down after it hit him - they might have a point or some sort of damage there - if he had been hurt once he was on the ground - but he managed to get out of the way. So he didn't get hurt any worse as a result.

Don't spit on her cupcake & tell her it's frosting.

And even if it did happen to Liza Minneli, Dolly Parton, or Elton John, do we really feel that these "celebrities" shouldn't own up to their own mistakes? How pathetic and kiss-a** have people gotten these days?

I still say he was grandstanding.


It's like saying since it was Brett's hat, that Dolly could have fallen through a hole in the floor because her breasts were in the way.

1) It never says that Michaels plans to sue. Would he? Perhaps, but it doesn't specify that a lawsuit is on the way.

2) In the chaos of the opening, plus the dozens of people backstage, I wonder if Michaels even paid attention during the dress rehearsal that a set piece was coming down. Some may say it is his own fault for "not paying attention," which to a point it true, however, again I say that that opening number was CHAOS and I can't imagine what it must have been like backstage in the wings. LOTS to pay attention to and get distracted by. If the claim was true that he was never specifically told about the set piece being lowered, that is indeed a safety issue and the fault of stage management.

3) Regarding the claim that if stage management noticed he was about to be hit and didn't stop the set piece or slow it down, hard to prove if anyone noticed it, but regardless, it is automated and there may not have been enough time to react. In most cases during set changes, once the 'go' is given they are very difficult to stop. Just because only a single piece is moving on stage doesn't mean there isn't a million other things moving offstage. Management is getting performers to places, prepping the next set piece to move on/off, etc.

4) If he was milking a bow, so what? Happens a lot. I think he is getting a lot of grief because there is this attitude that he is an "outsider" to the theatre. While it may have been the cause for his injury, it may have been just plain innocence on his part, and not recklessness. Again, all depends on the circumstances of what happened in rehearsals for that number. Youtube videos can only say so much.

---