Does Bruno Tonioli Owe Michael Bolton An Apology?

Singer Michael Bolton hung up his ballroom shoes after succeeding David Hasselhoff as the second celebrity eliminated from Season 11 of Dancing With The Stars on Tuesday night — but Bolton didn’t bid farewell without some harsh words for acid-tongued judge Bruno Tonioli.

The soft rock crooner, 57, endured biting criticism from Tonioli for his stiff “Hound Dog” routine on Monday night, setting off the first big Dancing controversy of the season.

“The worst jive in 11 seasons,” Bruno ripped during the vicious tirade. “I am a dog lover, but you make it so hard for me. You should have taken your bone and gone back to the dog house. You did it all very, very, very badly.”

And if that weren’t bad enough, Tonioli awarded Bolton and his partner, Chelsie Hightower, a low score of three out of 10, prompting host Tom Bergeron to quip, “We have a 3?”

Bolton blasted back at Bruno in some parting words to host Brooke Burke before he was booted: “Last night, Bruno was inappropriate and disrespectful. Other than that, it was a phenomenal experience.”

So, was Tonioli too harsh on Bolton? Everyone, including fellow seasoned scorer Len Goodman, seem to think so.

“It was too harsh,” Goodman said angrily of Tonioli’s comments as Tonioli angrily called Goodman’s words “lies.”

Although Len’s support wasn’t enough to keep the crooner dancing, Bolton is demanding an explanation from Bruno.

“You heard the tone. Even Len [Goodman] stopped him and said, ‘That’s inappropriate,’” Michael said in an interview on Good Morning America on Wednesday. “I think he should apologize publicly and be reprimanded for it.”

Michael said he was “disappointed” in the critique – not only for himself, but because his elderly mom was present to witness the public humiliation.

How embarrassing!

“My mom was there, she flew in. She’s 90 and I thought she was going to really enjoy it,” Michael retorted. “I just didn’t expect that level of disrespect from [Bruno].”

Do you think Michael Bolton deserves an apology from Bruno?