Michael Oher, Whose Story Inspired "The Blind Side," Alleged The Tuohy Family Made Millions By Lying About His Adoption (2024)

Michael Oher, the retired NFL player known for being the subject of the Academy Award-winning film The Blind Side, has alleged that a key part of his story that has reportedly made the Tuohy family "millions" is fake.

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In a report from ESPN, Oher filed a petition in a Tennessee probate court alleging that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never actually adopted him.

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Instead, the petition states that after he turned 18, the couple "tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators, which gave them legal authority to make business deals in his name." Oher's lawyer reportedly found the conservatorship in Feb. 2023, which revealed that the Tuohys never adopted him.

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The petition alleges, according to ESPN, that the Tuohys used their power as conservators to strike the deal that paid them and their two children, Collins and SJ Tuohy, "millions of dollars in royalties from an Oscar-winning film."

Meanwhile, Oher reportedly received no compensation for a story "that would not have existed without him."

The Blind Side, which was directed and written by John Lee Hanco*ck and is based on the book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, follows Michael Oher, who was adopted by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy and went on to become a first-round NFL draft pick in 2009.

The movie received critical acclaim, earning two Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture, in 2010.

Notably, Sandra Bullock won an Oscar, Golden Globe, and SAG Award for Best Actress for her work as Leigh Anne in The Blind Side.

According to the legal filing, the Tuohys and their two children were each paid $225,000, plus 2.5% of the film's "defined net proceeds," with the movie making over $300 million worldwide at the box office and more after leaving theaters.

Also, the petition filed alleges that a separate contract in 2007 appears to "give away" to 20th Century Fox Studios the life rights to Oher's story "without any payment whatsoever." However, Oher reportedly doesn't remember signing this contract, and no one explained its implications to him, per ESPN's report.

Previously, the Tuohys have claimed they haven't made a lot of money from the movie, instead saying they got a "flat fee" for the story. In the book In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving, Leigh Anne and Sean wrote that they "divided" the money "five ways."

Even after the success of The Blind Side, the Tuohys have continued to call Oher their adopted son and have used this fact to promote their foundation, Making It Happen, which serves underprivileged youth, as well as Leigh Anne's work as an author and speaker.

"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," the legal filing says according to ESPN.

The petition continues, saying, "Since at least August of 2004, Conservators have allowed Michael, specifically, and the public, generally, to believe that Conservators adopted Michael and have used that untruth to gain financial advantages for themselves and the foundations which they own or which they exercise control."

Oher's petition asks the court to end the Tuohys' conservatorship and to issue an injunction stopping them from using his name and likeness from now on. It also seeks to account for the money the Tuohys have earned using his name and story, and to have the couple pay him his share of the profits.

In his book When Your Back's Against the Wall, which was recently released, Oher wrote, "There has been so much created from The Blind Side that I am grateful for, which is why you might find it as a shock that the experience surrounding the story has also been a large source of some of my deepest hurt and pain over the past 14 years."

"Beyond the details of the deal, the politics, and the money behind the book and movie, it was the principle of the choices some people made that cut me the deepest."

You can read ESPN's full report here.

TheTuohysdid not respond to comment when ESPN reached out.