Former NFL Star Michael Oher Claims ‘Blind Side’ Family Tricked Him With Adoption
Retired NFL star, Michael Oher, has filed a legal petition to terminate a conservatorship against Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy, known for their portrayal in the Oscar-nominated movie, ‘The Blind Side,’ inspired by Oher’s life story.
In court documents submitted Monday in Shelby County, Tennessee probate court, the 37-year-old athlete claimed that he was tricked by the Tuohys into becoming their ward when he turned 18. He alleges they told him there was no significant difference between being adopted and entering into a conservatorship.
“Michael trusted the Tuohys and signed where they told him to sign,” states the legal filing obtained by PEOPLE. “What he signed, however, and unknown to Michael until after February 2023, were not adoption papers, or the equivalent of adoption papers.”
The document further suggests that instead of adoption papers as believed by Oher then, it was actually paperwork granting full control over his affairs to the Tuohys.
The inspiration behind the Oscar-nominated ‘The Blind Side,’ alleged that the Tuohy family lied about adopting him while profiting from his name
Image credits: Michael Oher
Image credits: espn
Oher, known for his college football days at the University of Mississippi and later being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2009, claims that all four Tuohy family members received a payment of $225,000 for their involvement in the movie, along with an additional 2.5% share of the film’s earnings which exceeded $330 million globally.
Following the 2009 film’s release, Oher’s connection with the Tuohy family started deteriorating. This was troubling for him as the movie portrayed him as lacking intelligence.
The retired NFL star claims he was tricked into signing conservatorship papers at age 18, believing they were adoption documents
Image credits: Michael Oher
Michael claims that all four members of the Tuohy family made money off the film based on his life, while he received no compensation
Image credits: Michael Oher
Image credits: Warner Bros
Image credits: Warner Bros
Image credits: Warner Bros
Subsequently, he discovered that he was the sole family member not being compensated with royalty payments from the film, Oher’s lawyer, J. Gerard Stranch IV, told ESPN.
Oher enlisted Stranch’s services to initiate an investigation into the matter. This endeavor led the attorney to discover conservatorship documents earlier this year. These documents indicated that Oher might not have been formally adopted by the Tuohy family.
“Mike didn’t grow up with a stable family life. When the Tuohy family told Mike they loved him and wanted to adopt him, it filled a void that had been with him his entire life,” Stranch explained to ESPN. “Discovering that he wasn’t actually adopted devastated Mike and wounded him deeply.”
This is what people had to say about Michael’s situation
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Damn this is seriously f'd up. I watched this movie and thought it was c**p. Such a "white savior" move, and they had to make the whole world know about their "good deed." It feels yucky. They saw potential and dollar signs and took advantage of a kid who just needed someone to love him.
I knew this story had some kind of greedy undertone. I didn't really like the whole premise of it and the Tuohys made me extremely uncomfortable. Just like most people with money, collecting it off someone else's back, someone else's hard work. Financial abuse is something that needs to be investigated and have some kind of system that alerts to fraudulent BS. How did the main character of this movie never even get paid in the first place but the whole Tuohy family did? Including the little kid and the sister who barely was in it at all? It was about Michael's life to begin with. So many wrongs on so many levels. Mrs. Tuohy'd character (as played by Sandra Bullock) made her seem really controlling and hard to say no to. And they made him appear dumb to add insult to injury. Was the GPA in the movie BS too? I'm sorry for him and hope he gets a big settlement that takes all their earnings away as they belong to him. Also curious- if they are still his conservators all these years later, are they keeping all the income he has made ever since? This is fraud to have someone sign papers believing they are going to be adopted and it's to financially take advantage. I bet he wasn't happy with how his mother was portrayed in this movie either.
Same, the story didn't sit right with me.
Load More Replies... Maybe everyone here posted without reading the story or before it was all out, but Michael is going to end up the bad guy here. He tried to blackmail the family with lies to get money from them and there's evidence. The family was already filthy rich, and they made sure Michael got an even cut from everything the movie made. Let's not takes sides based on race here; if that's the reason for taking a side than it's racism whichever side is taken.
Both an adoption and conservatorship are legal documents. There will be evidence!
Load More Replies...
Damn this is seriously f'd up. I watched this movie and thought it was c**p. Such a "white savior" move, and they had to make the whole world know about their "good deed." It feels yucky. They saw potential and dollar signs and took advantage of a kid who just needed someone to love him.
I knew this story had some kind of greedy undertone. I didn't really like the whole premise of it and the Tuohys made me extremely uncomfortable. Just like most people with money, collecting it off someone else's back, someone else's hard work. Financial abuse is something that needs to be investigated and have some kind of system that alerts to fraudulent BS. How did the main character of this movie never even get paid in the first place but the whole Tuohy family did? Including the little kid and the sister who barely was in it at all? It was about Michael's life to begin with. So many wrongs on so many levels. Mrs. Tuohy'd character (as played by Sandra Bullock) made her seem really controlling and hard to say no to. And they made him appear dumb to add insult to injury. Was the GPA in the movie BS too? I'm sorry for him and hope he gets a big settlement that takes all their earnings away as they belong to him. Also curious- if they are still his conservators all these years later, are they keeping all the income he has made ever since? This is fraud to have someone sign papers believing they are going to be adopted and it's to financially take advantage. I bet he wasn't happy with how his mother was portrayed in this movie either.
Same, the story didn't sit right with me.
Load More Replies... Maybe everyone here posted without reading the story or before it was all out, but Michael is going to end up the bad guy here. He tried to blackmail the family with lies to get money from them and there's evidence. The family was already filthy rich, and they made sure Michael got an even cut from everything the movie made. Let's not takes sides based on race here; if that's the reason for taking a side than it's racism whichever side is taken.
Both an adoption and conservatorship are legal documents. There will be evidence!
Load More Replies...
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