Legal Research

Bret Michaels Sues Tonys for Injuries

By Omar Ha-Redeye

Those who watched the 2009 Tony Awards will recall that Bret Michaels was injured while exiting the stage after the opening performance of Nothing But a Good Time. If you need a reminder of the incident you can view it here.

Michaels suffered a fractured nose and split lip. He has experienced a number of other health problems since, some of which, such as a subarachnoid hemorrhage, have been attributed to the incident. California attorneys, Spillane Weingarten LLP, filed a statement of claim Friday against the Tonys, CBS Entertainment, and a number of related producers and promoters for negligence, negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, civil battery, and negligent misprepresentation.

Michaels claims he was not provided any special instructions or warning of the descending prop, and was simply told to exit rear even though he had asked if there were any “blocking” instructions. The claim mentions that the clip of Michael’s injury exceeded 27 million views on YouTube, becoming one of the 10 most viewed clips, which could have been prevented had the broadcasters employed the standard seven second delay and prevented that portion from airing.

The claim states,

6. Through his sheer will to live, to see his children grow up, Michaels was able to survive this trauma. AItl10ugh he put a brave face on for the public, the fact is that the injury left Michaels clinging for his life and in excruciating agony. It was only through months of hard work and dedication – that continue to this day – that Michaels has been able to resume some semblance of his life and career.

The complete claim can be viewed here.

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on March 27, 2011 (boomark / email).