Sam Amico
Retired NFL star lineman Michael Oher indicated he was blindsided by what really transpired with his life story, which was made into a feature film.
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More specifically, Oher petitioned a Tennessee court with allegations that the wealthy family that raised him concocted a lie for financial gain — and his expense, no less. Oher was immortalized in the 2009 film, The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock.
For starters, the family indicated that Oher was adopted out of poverty, as depicted in the movie. But Oher contends he was never actually adopted.
The 14-page petition, filed in Shelby County, Tennessee, probate court, and is 14 pages long. In it, he alleges that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy took Oher into their home as a high school student — but again, never adopted him. Instead, the couple tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators, which gave them legal authority to make business deals in his name, the petition said. That allegedly happened just a few months after he turned 18.
Oher also claimed that the Tuohy’s used their conservatorship to strike the movie deal, resulting in them and their two birth children making millions off his name via the movie. Oher got nothing, he alleged.
Oher, 37, added that the Tuohys have continued to call him their adopted son and have used it for further financial gain in promoting their foundation and Leigh Anne’s work as motivational speaker and author.
“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 filing reads. “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.”
Meanwhile, Sean Tuohy told the Daily Memphian that the family was hurt by Oher’s filing and that the Tuohy’s “didn’t make any money off the movie,” only a shares of the proceeds from the book, written by Michael Lewis. The movie is based on the book.
“We’re devastated,” Sean Tuohy told the Memphian. “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.”
The petition asks the court to to end the conservatorship and issue an injunction that bars them from using his name and likeness to profit. It also seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
“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 reads. “All monies made in said manner should in all conscience and equity be disgorged and paid over to the said ward, Michael Oher.”
The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and Bullock won the Best Actress award for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy.
Oher was selected with the No. 23 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft as an offensive tackle out of Mississippi. He went on to have a stellar pro career with the Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers before retiring in 2016.
