Michael Oher’s The Blind Side: A Case Study in the Tuohy Family and the Foundation for a Conservatory Life with a Rich Family
Tuohy said if Oher wants to end the conservatorship now, he would “of course” be willing to end it. He also told The Daily Memphian that he began to sense a growing distance between Oher and the Tuohys starting a year and a half ago.
During his senior year there, he played in the the Tennessee All-State Game for football and basketball, and the Army All-American Bowl game. He had several football scholarship offers, according to the petition.
After his junior year, Oher would stay with the Tuohy’s and their two children throughout the summer. The Tuohys invited Oher to live with them in July of that summer, according to the petition.
“Where other parents of Michael’s classmates saw him as a nice kid in need, Sean and Leigh Tuohy saw something else: a gullible young man whose athletic talent could be exploited for their own benefit,” the petition said.
Michael Oher, the subject of the hit 2009 movie The Blind Side, has alleged that a central part of his story — that he was adopted by a wealthy family — is false. Instead of adopting him, he said, the Tuohy family established a conservatorship, in which they profited from his name, image and likeness.
The Blind Side made at least $300 million at the global box office. The petition claimed Oher didn’t receive any money from the Tuohys.
Oher also alleged his name was signed on a 2007 document that would give 20th Century Fox “without any payment whatsoever, the perpetual, unconditional and exclusive right throughout the world to use and portray Michael Oher’s name, likeness, voice, appearance, personality, personal experiences, incidents, situations and events” tied to the book and movie that led up to the 2008 NFL draft, according to the petition.
The Blind Side of Michael Oher’s Allegations of His False Adoption: A Response to the News from the Tuohy Family
The man filed a petition with the state of Tennessee on Monday to have the established conservatorship dissolved.
The 63-year-old sports commentator told The Daily Memphian he first heard the news of the lawsuit after a friend sent him the article from ESPN, who first reported the story.
The conservatorship at the center of the petition filed Monday, Tuohy said, had nothing to do with the movie, telling The Daily Memphian it was a way to satisfy the NCAA when it appeared Oher might play football at the University of Mississippi.
Tuohy said he sat Michael down and told him, “If you’re planning to go to Ole Miss — or even considering Ole Miss — we think you have to be part of the family. It would be legal.
“We’re devastated. It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children,” Tuohy said. We’re going to love Michael at his 37th birthday, just like we loved him at 16.
“What he signed, however, and unknown to Michael until after February of 2023, were not adoption papers, or the equivalent of adoption papers,” the petition alleged.
NPR requested comment from both the Tuohy family and the organization Making It Happen, but neither was returned.
Source: Tuohy family responds to Michael Oher’s allegations of his false adoption
“I’m afraid I’m too afraid to take a stand” [Phys. Rev. D1 106 (2001) 838-839]
“This is a difficult situation for my family and me. I want to ask everyone to please respect our privacy at this time. Oher said he would allow the lawsuit to speak for itself and wouldn’t give any further comment.