Getty Image / Jeff Zelevansky
One of the biggest off-the-field NFL stories of the week has been the falling out between Michael Oher and his previous custodian, Leigh Anne Tuohy, who Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for playing her in The Blind Side. The Tuohy family is denying Oher’s claims that they lied about his adoption to profit off his story but that hasn’t stopped Memphis residents from spilling the tea about Leigh Anne Tuohy and her family online.
A viral tweet from Every Day Should Be Saturday founder Spencer Hall led me to reddit’s r/Memphis where the comments were filled with locals sharing their experiences with the Tuohy family. Specifically, a lot of the comments are from people in the service industry claiming the Tuohy family weren’t so kind to service workers.
Now reddit is a semi-anonymous website and right now the Michael Oher vs Tuohy Family situation is a war of words. So there could be some people piling on for attention and karma farming, but there are a lot of comments…
The top comment on the reddit thread says “That lady used to come in J.Alexanders and be such a b—- to us. (The people who worked there). She thought she was God or some s—.”
Another person replied “Was in the same room with her at an event and stuck-up and entitled pretty much sums it up.”
The third comment reads “Did a catering event for the whole family one time. I almost got fired because I didn’t know who she was. She was so upset she told my boss. I said “what can I help you with ma’am?” Didn’t like that I wasn’t addressing her by name.”
Someone then linked to this tweet from a Memphis bartender who served Leigh Anne Tuohy and her family in the past:
As a Memphis bartender who has had to serve the Tuohy’s before:
I hope they are treated by the media and/or courts in the coming weeks/months with *exactly* the same amount of dignity, respect, and kindness that they show service industry workers when they go out 😇
— chaotic hungry (@campari_queen_) August 14, 2023
Another person chimed in with “I worked at a fine dining establishment in East Memphis and came here to say the same. Out of a lot of rich, entitled, stuck up nightmare regulars we had, she was easily one of the f——- worst.”
One restaurant server wrote “She was the rudest customer I ever had to come into contact with. She walked in at 9:59 to a place that closed at 10 and then acted like a b—- all night.”
Yet another person chimed in with “That whole family was an absolute nightmare to wait on at Houstons.”
If you ‘speak Southern’ then you might realize this is the most devastating comment yet Served that lady at my old restaurant (Houston’s) a time or two. Not the nicest person. Might as well have said ‘bless their hearts’ and pour gasoline on the situation!
Again, this is reddit and the conversations tend be to pretty one-sided there. It’s not shocking there aren’t comments defending Leigh Anne Tuohy and the Tuohy family but I’m sure there are countless Memphis residents who have positive things to say about the family.
As for why Michael Oher is speaking out, Leigh Anne Tuohy / the Tuohy Family have said it’s part of a $15 million ‘shakedown’ attempt and also being used to drum up media attention for his memoir that was released 8 days ago, according to a recent report from Front Office Sports.