"The Blind Side" subject Michael Oher has revealed a damning allegation: his family, the Tuohys, never actually adopted him. Here's what to know about the lawsuit.
Michael Oher, the subject of the acclaimed movie "The Blind Side", is suing his family, the Tuohys, for allegedly tricking him in a calculated plot to profit from his story.
In a bombshell article by ESPN, Oher claims Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the real-life couple from "The Blind Side" who welcomed Oher into their home, never officially adopted him.
Instead, the Tuohys tricked Oher, who hadn't yet turned 18, into signing away his legal authority. In a 14-page petition filed in Tennessee court, Oher alleges that the Tuohys had Oher sign a document that made them his conservators, thus giving them the legal authority to make business deals in his name after he turned 18.
Had Oher been officially adopted, he would have been a legal member of the Tuohys and would have been able to handle his own finances.
At the time of the signing, the Tuohys reportedly told Oher that there was no difference between adoption and conservatorship — hence, the deception.
As the petition states, the Tuohys then used their conservatorship to exploit Oher's story; Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy negotiated a movie deal after the book "The Blind Side" was based on was published, and they ended up making millions in royalties from the 2009 Oscar-nominated movie. Actress Sandra Bullock would go on to win an Oscar for her portrayal of Leigh Anne.
Oher's legal filing says:
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.
"Blind Side" subject Michael Oher makes damning claim against Tuohy family
According to the lawsuit, the Tuohys and their two biological children received $225,000 each along with 2.5 percent of the movie's proceeds. "The Blind Side" would become a fan-favorite blockbuster and critically acclaimed hit that netted more than $300 million at the box office.
To complicate matters, Oher also reportedly signed a contract that gave away his life rights to the story to Fox Studios "without any payment whatsoever." Oher has no recollection of signing that contract.
The 37-year-old Oher, a 2009 first-round pick who spent time with the Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, and Carolina Panthers in his eight-year NFL career, is seeking legal action against the Tuohys, specifically trying to end their conservatorship and bar them from using his name and likeness ever again. He also wants a fair share of the profits from the movie as well as compensatory punitive damages.
"The Blind Side", which tells the story of Oher's rags-to-riches journey from surviving poverty to playing football at Ole Miss to getting drafted in the NFL, will certainly get painted in a different light if the courts discover that the Tuohys' supposed adoption of Oher was indeed a lie.
For those wondering why it took so long for Oher to file this lawsuit, the ex-NFL star did not fully investigate his legal relationship with the Tuohys until after he retired from the league in 2016. Oher's lawyer had only discovered the conservatorship document this past February, and besides, Oher had placed his trust in his family ever since the Tuohys took him into their home all those years ago.
Now, the shocking details about the questionable actions of the Tuohys threaten to sever Oher's relationship with his family altogether. Over ten years after the movie's release, Michael Oher is trying to reclaim his life and his story, one that the people closest to him allegedly exploited for personal gain.