Michael Oher is is setting the record straight.
The retired NFL player, whose life story was the basis of the 2009 film “The Blind Side”, and the book of the same name it was based on, is claiming a central part of the story was a lie.
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In a petition filed with a Tennessee probate court, Oher alleges that when he went to live with Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy as a teenager, they never actually adopted him.
According to Oher, three months after he turned 18, in 2004, the Tuohys tricked him into signing papers to have them become his conservator.
As conservators, he alleges, the couple had legal authority to sign business deals in his name.
“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 legal filing says, according to ESPN.
“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 filing continues.
Oher’s filing also alleges that under the conservatorship, the Tuohys made a deal for royalties from the 2009 film, earning them and their two birth children millions of dollars.
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The football player says he got nothing out of the deal, based on a story “that would not have existed without him.”
The Tuohys have continued to call Oher, now 37, their adopted son over the years, including while promoting their foundation and Leigh Anne’s career as an author and motivational speaker. The couple have not yet responded.
Oher is asking that the court end the Tuohys conservatorship over him, and bar them from using his name and likeness, while also having them pay his fair share in the profits made off his story.
“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 petition says. “All monies made in said manner should in all conscience and equity be disgorged and paid over to the said ward, Michael Oher.”
Directed by John Lee Hanckock, “The Blind Side” starred Sandra Bullock in an Oscar-winning performance as Leigh Anne, with Tim McGraw playing her husband, and Quinton Aaron as Oher.
Along with its Best Actress win, the film was also nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and earned over $300 million at the box office.
