The saga of former NFL player Michael Oher took a surprising turn on Monday when he filed a petition in a Tennessee court alleging that the family upon which his inspirational story was based never legally adopted him.
Oher, the subject of the 2009 Academy Award-winning film, “The Blind Side,” alleged that he was tricked into a conservatorship that solely benefited the Tuohy family, headed by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy. According to the petition, Oher learned about the lie in February 2023.
The filing alleges that he was taken in by the family in 2004 on the premise that they intended to adopt him, but that they never followed through with the legal process. It further alleges that the Tuohys took advantage of the fact that Oher had been in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Human Services since 1996 to not pursue adoption and instead entered him into a conservatorship that undermined his right to contract for himself.
The filing also alleges that the family benefited significantly from the movie based on Oher’s life story, to the point of each family member including two birth children receiving a significant amount and royalties for the film which grossed $330 million. Oher, conversely, allegedly signed away his rights to his story “without any payment whatsoever.”
Sean Tuohy said that conservatorship was the only legal way to make Oher part of the family because he was over 18 and that each member of the family received $14,000 from the movie.
The petition seeks to end the conservatorship, bar the use of Oher’s name and likeness, and grant him a share of the profits that were allegedly generated off of his name.
Oher, who was drafted in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens, was eventually released from the Carolina Panthers in 2017 and has not been part of an NFL team since then. His lawyers now hope that this legal action will help right some of the wrongs that have been done to him.
What’s even more interesting is that Hollywood star Sandra Bullock is getting sucked into this as well.
Bullock played Leigh Anne Tuohy in the movie “The Blind Side” and won an Oscar for her performance.
Now, many on social media want her to give it back or have it taken from her despite the fact that there’s zero evidence that Bullock had any idea of the drama going on with the family.
