Dancing With the Stars Producers Get Bruno's Back in Bolton Battle

Say what you will about Bruno and his harsh remarks towards Bolton, but at least his bosses have his back.

Nothing like a good spat to make for a really compelling reality competition.

In the case of Bruno vs. Bolton, we now hear from the producers of Dancing With the Stars, who have this to say about Michael Bolton's claims that the judge was entirely too harsh…

"Bruno's role as a judge is to give his honest opinions on the quality of the dances he's judging," the producers say in a statement. "While we respect the feelings of our celebrities and dancers, we don't feel Bruno should be expected to apologize for doing his job." Looks like the powers that be over at DWTS have Bruno's back. He is a judge after all. Isn't it his job to be judgmental?

Bolton believes Bruno's critiques passed honest feedback and crossed into "inappropriate and disrespectful" territory.  Before giving Bolton a score of 3, Bruno called the routine the show's worst jive ever.

Everyone seems to be choosing teams; even Derek Hough said Bruno "might have just gone a little too far with it." But it appears the producers have chosen which side of the line to stand on, and that is right next to Bruno and his No. 3 paddle.