Getty Image / Matthew Sharpe
Remember that heartwarming film The Blind Side about the family who adopted Michael Oher and helped him make it to college football?
Well, 14 years later, Oher alleges the Tuohy family lied about adopting him with the goal of making money off of him.
According to ESPN, Michael Oher claims “that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, who took Oher into their home as a high school student, never adopted him.”
ESPN reports that “instead, less than three months after Oher turned 18 in 2004, the petition says, the couple tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators, which gave them legal authority to make business deals in his name.”
With that said, the Blind Side star claims the Tuohy family made “millions of dollars” from the film, while Michael Oher didn’t receive a dime.
The petition further alleges that the Tuohys used their power as conservators to strike the deal that paid them and their two birth children millions of dollars in royalties from an Oscar-winning film that earned more than $300 million, while Oher got nothing for a story ‘that would not have existed without him.’ In the years since, the Tuohys have continued calling the 37-year-old Oher their adopted son and have used that assertion to promote their foundation as well as Leigh Anne Tuohy’s work as an author and motivational speaker.”
ESPN shares the full statement from the legal filing. According to the filing, Oher didn’t realize what he had signed until February 2023.
“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. 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.”
If these allegations are true, then this might be one of the most messed up situations in sports. Additionally, the fact Oher’s film is called The Blind Side is a bit fitting for what’s now transpiring.
Of course, this will go to court and face a ruling. So, it will likely be a while before a verdict is reached.
ESPN also reports that the Tuohy family “did not immediately return phone calls Monday to numbers listed for them.” For that reason, we don’t have access to their side of the story.
This will be an ongoing situation that many will keep close tabs on.