Getty Image / Matthew Sharpe
The Blind Side saga continues and has seemingly taken a turn.
In the latest development of this story, the attorney for the Tuohy family claims Michael Oher has attempted to “shakedown” the family for money multiple times before.
According to TMZ, the Tuohy family states that before Oher went public with his accusations, “he actually tried to shake them down for $15 million.”
Marty Singer, the attorney representing the Tuohy’s, details that “Oher came to the Tuohys prior to filing his 14-page petition in Shelby County, Tenn. … and threatened them, saying if they didn’t pony up an eight-figure check, he’d ‘plant a negative story about them in the press.'”
The former NFL player has claimed he has not been given a dime from The Blind Side. Meanwhile the family is adamant that they’ve split the money equally amongst each individual in the family, including Oher.
Here is what Singer had to say about it, per TMZ.
“Over the years, the Tuohys have given Mr. Oher an equal cut of every penny received from The Blind Side. Even recently, when Mr. Oher started to threaten them about what he would do unless they paid him an eight-figure windfall, and, as part of that shakedown effort refused to cash the small profit checks from the Tuohys, they still deposited Mr. Oher’s equal share into a trust account they set up for his son.”
After that statement, Marty Singer then claims that Michael Oher has tried to sue the Tuohy family multiple times. He also alleges that over the years, no lawyers would take his case because “they saw the evidence and learned the truth.”
Here is the rest of Singer’s full statement about the situation.
“Unbeknownst to the public, Mr. Oher has actually attempted to run this play several times before – but it seems that numerous other lawyers stopped representing him once they saw the evidence and learned the truth. Sadly, Mr. Oher has finally found a willing enabler and filed this ludicrous lawsuit as a cynical attempt to drum up attention in the middle of his latest book tour.”
For now, there is no telling how this will all play out.
With that said, things are turning ugly rather quickly. And from the sounds of it, drama may have been brewing between the Tuohy family and Michael Oher for several years.