Bret Michaels Belatedly Sues Tony Awards for Near-Decapitation

If you didn't watch the three-hour Tonys telecast in 2009, you still saw the night's most horrifying moment: Bret Michaels getting smacked in the head with a piece of scenery, the footage of which will live on the Internet forever to give us nightmares of Michaels' near-death experience. Nearly two years later, the Poison frontman is suing the theatah awards' producers and CBS for giving inadequate instructions on how to exit the stage following his performance of "Nothin' But A Good Time."

His lawsuit (via TMZ) blames show runners who "failed and refused" to help out after Michaels' smackdown, which led host Neil Patrick Harris to crack on the air: "His number gave head banging a whole new meaning." The singer -- who broke his nose -- later responded that had "this incident happened to Liza Minnelli, Dolly Parton, or Elton John, the Tonys would have at least issued a letter of concern."

He's probably right about that -- although, in the case of Minnelli, Broadway would be practically shut down until the legend regained her health.

Michaels -- a national treasure in the eyes of those who love guylinered, salt-of-the-earth reality TV rockers with childhood blanket-like attachments to their bandannas -- survived a brain hemorrhage six months after the Tonys fiasco. At the time, doctors believed the hemorrhage was caused by his diabetes, not the set piece; Michaels is now convinced there was a connection between his humiliating injury and later head trauma.

A Tonys spokeswoman did not immediately respond to our request for comment.