Former NFL offensive lineman Michael Oher just delivered a blindside hit toward the story that inspired “The Blind Side.”
From the words of the former first-rounder and Super Bowl champion with the Baltimore Ravens on Monday, Oher has a much different take on his adoption story that captivated audiences in the movie and his personal story.
Michael Oher Alleges Family Made Millions Off Adoption Lie
Noted by Michael A. Fletcher of ESPN, Oher alleges in a Tennessee court filing that a central element of his personal story was a lie — and one that was concocted by the family to enrich themselves at his expense.
“The 14-page petition, filed in Shelby County, Tennessee, probate court, alleges that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, who took Oher into their home as a high school student, never adopted him,” Fletcher writes.
He added how in the filing, Oher claims the couple “tricked him.”
“Instead, less than three months after Oher turned 18 in 2004, the petition says, the couple tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators, which gave them legal authority to make business deals in his name,” Fletcher says.
Is The Blind Side Film Also Involved in the Filing?
The 2009 film earned actress Sandra Bullock her first Academy Award win in portraying Leigh Anne Tuohy. The film was another mention in the court filing.
“The petition further alleges that the Tuohys used their power as conservators to strike a deal that paid them and their two birth children millions of dollars in royalties from an Oscar-winning film that earned more than $300 million,” Fletcher writes.
Oher claims that he got nothing from the story. Since then, Anne Tuohy and her husband have continued to refer to Oher as their adoptive son. But, they have used that assertion in promoting their foundation as well as Anne Tuohy’s career as a motivational speaker and book author.
The filing, per Fletcher, states: “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. 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.”
Oher, 37, played for three NFL franchises in the Ravens, Carolina Panthers, and the Tennessee Titans — which brought him back to his home state, having grown up in Memphis. Back in 2011, Oher revealed his side of the story in his memoir “I Beat the Odds.”
The book back then dove into how Oher met the Tuohys and was a senior when he signed the conservatorship papers. But back then, he was told by both that there was essentially no difference between conservatorship and adoption.
“They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as ‘adoptive parents,’ but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account,” one excerpt of the book detailed.
Oher’s story in “The Blind Side” was one of a homeless black teenager who was academically challenged and came from a broken family until the Tuohys took him in.
Oher was one of 12 children from his biological family and was born to a mother who struggled with a drug addiction. After being taken in by the Tuohys, he began to soar academically while also establishing himself as one of the nation’s top offensive linemen and being courted by Southeastern Conference programs before settling on Mississippi.
However, Oher’s lawyer J. Gerard Stranch IV, claims in the filing his client never was given one royalty check from the film and was upset with how he was portrayed.
“Mike’s relationship with the Tuohy family started to decline when he discovered that he was portrayed in the movie as unintelligent,” Stranch said.
“Their relationship continued to deteriorate as he learned that he was the only member of the family not receiving royalty checks from the movie, and it was permanently fractured when he realized he wasn’t adopted and a part of the family.”
Tuohy Family Responds, Claims $15 Million Shakedown
Meanwhile, the Tuohy family responded to the allegations made by Oher Tuesday.
Per TMZ Sports, they not only called the claims “absurd,” “outlandish” and “hurtful” claims, but claims via their attorney Marty Singer that Oher demanded $15 million from them and if the demand wasn’t meant, he would go to the press with a negative story about them.
Singer claims the Tuohy’s “absolutely didn’t trick” Oher into agreeing to the conservatorship. He adds the conservatorship “was established to assist with Mr. Oher’s needs, ranging from getting him health insurance and obtaining a driver’s license to helping with college admissions.”
An attorney for Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy also said that Oher “threatened” the couple — indicating “he would plant a negative story about them unless they paid him $15 million.”
The Touhy’s statement called Oher’s recent petition a “cynical attempt to drum up attention during his latest book tour.”
Complete response against Oher can be found here.