Bret Michaels: ‘I Got My Bell Rung’ At The Tony Awards

BRET MICHAELS: ‘I GOT MY BELL RUNG’ AT THE TONY AWARDS

June 18, 2009

Ann Oldenburg of USAToday.com reports the following:

“I haven’t talked to one person who hasn’t said, ‘You should sue,’ ” says Bret Michaels, the Poison frontman who became the talk of the Tony Awards when a prop dropped from the rafters and knocked him out during the live show on June 7. He suffered a broken nose, lip stitches and a strained neck, which has affected his voice, he says.

Now, Michaels, 46, says he’s not pulling a Sarah Palin — he isn’t demanding an apology (as she recently did from David Letterman for a joke about her daughter). But he is surprised a representative from the Tonys hasn’t publicly expressed concern for his health and hasn’t investigated the cause of the accident.

“Of all the things I thought could possibly happen, this was not in my top 10,” says the rocker, who is also featured in People magazine’s new Hottest Bachelors issue this week. He figured “maybe a fight on the red carpet,” or “something around James Gandolfini.” But not a 700-pound prop pounding him on the head.

“I got my bell rung,” he says, recounting that he momentarily blacked out and awakened to Broadway actors in costumes — a monkey, Shrek and goat heads. “It was like I had died and gone to Oz.”

The next day, Tony spokeswoman Christina Stejskal told the Associated Press the rocker “missed his mark.” That has made Michaels “furious.” “What mark?” he says.

Tony reps would not comment Wednesday.

Michaels says he was told to walk toward the back of the stage when his song ended, and that’s what he did. “I didn’t drop my microphone or slip on a banana peel. I got blindsided … This was a real accident. This wasn’t a gag gone wrong.”

Michaels says his voice has suffered. “Sounds like I chewed on nails,” he says. He has four solo shows this week and says he’ll only be able to get through two. And he’s “a little stiffer,” with neck and back pain.

Poison kicks off a summer tour with Def Leppard on Tuesday in Camden, N.J. He’s going to see how his ailments and shows play out before approaching the Tonys, if he doesn’t hear from them. “I don’t want an apology from anyone,” he says. “I wanted someone to say ‘We have made a mistake, we’re looking into the matter.’ If there’s gross negligence and somebody really messed up, then they need to step up to the plate and take care of it.”

But Michaels says he doesn’t want a legal battle.

“I’ll reach out myself. We need to see what unfolds over the next couple of weeks and see what the real damage is. I’m taking the high road.” The problem, he adds: “When you take the high road, sometimes your reward is nothing.”

Courtesy of www.sleazeroxx.com and www.usatoday.com