Michael Oher, the subject of the 2009 Oscar Award-winning film, The Blind Side, has filed a lawsuit in Tennessee against the uber-wealthy Tuohy family.
In the suit, filed in Shelby County Probate Court Aug. 14, the former NFL star slammed his guardians, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, accusing the couple of using his name, image and likeness under a conservatorship to make millions from the film and a book deal, ESPN noted. Oher claims he never saw a dime from the blockbuster film or any of the lucrative projects spawned by the movie’s success.
A conservatorship is a legal proceeding where a guardian or protector is given the right to manage the personal or financial affairs of an individual who is incapable of handling their own affairs due to age or physical limitations.
According to the filing, Oher claimed that the Tuohys tricked him into signing a conservatorship when he was a rising high school senior at Briarcrest Christian School in 2004. Here’s where things get sticky. Oher, who was 18 when he signed his name on the dotted line, thought the conservatorship would give greedy Sean and Leigh Anne the right to legally adopt him. That wasn’t the case.
The offensive tackler alleged that the wealthy duo trapped him into signing over his legal rights so that they could make big money business deals on his behalf.
“The lie of Michael’s adoption is one upon which Co-Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their Ward, the undersigned Michael Oher,” the 14-page lawsuit states. “Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact, provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys.”
The petition further alleged that the Tennessee natives used their power as conservators to make millions from The Blind Side, an Oscar-winning film based on Oher’s life that made more than $300 million at the box office. The Baltimore Ravens alum says he was never paid for the film and that Sean and Leigh Anne continue to claim him as their adopted son to make bank for their foundation and other lucrative projects.
“Since at least August of 2004, Conservators have allowed Michael, specifically, and the public, generally, to believe that Conservators adopted Michael and have used that untruth to gain financial advantages for themselves and the foundations which they own or which they exercise control,” the filing states. “All monies made in said manner should in all conscience and equity be disgorged and paid over to the said ward, Michael Oher.”
What is Michael Oher asking for?
Now, Oher, 37, is coming for all of his coins and then some. According to the petition, the NFL alum wants the conservatorship to be dissolved. The football star is also asking for an undisclosed amount of compensatory and punitive damages for the money he lost out on during the film’s success.
According to the legal filing, the Tuohys and their two biological children received “$225,000, plus 2.5% of the film’s ‘defined net proceeds,’ when” The Blind Side went crazy at the box office.
He also alleges that the white couple signed a 2007 contract in his name to “give away” his rights to the film “without any payment whatsoever.” The NFL star said he never signed the contract and wants the court to issue an injunction that would ban the money-hungry Tuohys from using his name and likeness for future deals.
Twitter users weigh in on The Tuohy’s caucasity.
On social media, X users have been dragging the white family for their alleged trickery.
Some users say it was terrible for the Tuohys to take advantage of Oher at such a young age due to his tough backstory. If you’ve watched The Blind Side, Sandra Bullock portrays Leigh Anne in the film, who is depicted as a white savior that invited the burgeoning NFL star into her home due to his disadvantaged upbringing.
Oher’s mother battled with drug addiction when he was a child. He was placed in foster care and, at one point, experienced homelessness during his rough childhood. The school was also a challenge for the athlete. The NFL star’s life changed when he attended Briarcrest Christian School, thanks to a friend of his father’s. As a student at the Christian private school, the talented tackler honed his athletic chops on the football field. It was there that he met the Tuohys, according to People.
Oher would often sleep over at his classmates’ homes in order to escape his rough living conditions. At one point, he began staying with the Tuohys, whose children also attended Briarcrest. In the petition, the 37-year-old football star says the family formed a close relationship with him once his stellar athletic prowess began to draw wide attention. The wealthy family took him in and encouraged him to call them “mom” and “dad” when he visited their lavish home in Memphis. Eventually, they offered to adopt him, but after years of being led to believe he was a part of the family, Oher says he was blindsided when he found he wasn’t legally adopted by the sportscaster and businesswoman in 2023.
“Mike didn’t grow up with a stable family life,” the athlete’s attorney J. Gerard Stranch IV, said. “When the Tuohy family told Mike they loved him and wanted to adopt him, it filled a void that had been with him his entire life. Discovering that he wasn’t actually adopted devastated Mike and wounded him deeply.”
Other Twitter users dragged the wealthy couple for allegedly taking money from the film when they were already well off.
Well, if the allegations are true, Sean and Leigh Anne need to run Oher back his money, time, and then some. It sounds like the duo had a classic case of being white saviors to Oher’s disadvantage.
We’re no judge, but it seems like they saw a young, vulnerable and talented brother, offered him a life he never had, and then used their white savior complex to swindle the NFL icon out of money and opportunities he was rightfully owed due to his hard work.
Peep this. Interestingly, after graduating high school, Oher attended the University of Mississippi, the alma mater of Leigh Anne and Sean. In the suit, Oher claimed that the sketchy conservatorship he was tricked into signing was created by the Tuohys’ close family friend Debra Branan. She was also listed as his agent when his successful NFL career with the Baltimore Ravens took off in 2009.
Sounds super shady, right?
Sean Tuohy speaks out.
On Aug. 15, Sean Tuohy condemned Oher’s allegations during an interview with The Daily Memphian. “We didn’t make any money off the movie,” Sean said.
The sportscaster revealed that the family did receive some cash after the release of Michael Lewis’ book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, which was the foundation for the film. He claimed everyone in the family, including Michael, received $14,000 from the deal.
“We’re devastated,” he added. “It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children. But we’re going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.” Sean alleged that he and Leigh Anne made Oher sign the conservatorship paperwork to fulfill a requirement for the NCAA when he was accepted to the University of Mississippi.
“Michael was obviously living with us for a long time, and the NCAA didn’t like that,” the sportscaster said. “They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was actually part of the family.”
Welp, Oher’s lawsuit may have been the long overdue ass whooping’ the Tuohys needed because now, they are planning to enter into a consent order that would end the funky conservatorship for good, the duo’s lawyer Randall Fishman told reporters Aug. 16, according to the Associated Press.
During an interview on The Jim Rome Show Aug. 8, Oher said he was upset with the way he was portrayed in The Blind Side.
While promoting his new book, When Your Back’s Against the Wall, the NFL star explained that the blockbuster film “took away” the hard work and dedication he exhibited as a young child. The footballer, who was portrayed by actor Quinton Aaron in the flick, said he wasn’t shy, timid or illiterate growing up.
“I think the biggest for me is being portrayed as not being able to read or write. In second grade, I was doing plays in front of the school. When you go into a locker room, your teammates don’t think you can learn a playbook, you know, that weighs heavy on someone,” Oher shared.
“I understand that the movie has given me a position. I’m honored to have that position it’s given me, but you have to understand before I moved in with the family, I was an All-American. That’s what I want the generations behind me to see in this book right here, to understand that you don’t have to have someone save you and rescue you to go out and be successful. You got every tool in you.”
For the record, Oher’s net worth is around $16 million today.
This is wild! Have you been following this case?
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