Michael Oher’s Allegations against the Tuohy Family
Retired NFL player, Michael Oher, has disputed the portrayal in the 2009 film “The Blind Side” that showed him being adopted by a wealthy white family. Contrary to the popular narrative, recent documents filed in a Tennessee court suggest that the Tuohys allegedly deceived Oher to profit from his story. Oher claims that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy brought him into their household during his high school years under a conservatorship, misleading him to believe they were acting as his adoptive parents. This setup granted them the legal authority to broker business deals in his name.
Financial Disparities Arising from “The Blind Side”
The success of “The Blind Side,” which centered on Oher’s journey from poverty to Super Bowl stardom, did not financially benefit Oher. While the film grossed over $300 million, Oher alleges that he didn’t receive any monetary returns. Meanwhile, the Tuohy family, including their two biological children, reportedly earned substantial sums, both from a lump sum payment and a percentage of the film’s profits. Furthermore, a 2007 contract is said to have provided 20th Century Fox Studios with the rights to Oher’s life story without compensating him, a contract he either doesn’t remember signing or was duped into signing under false pretenses.
Personal and Emotional Impacts on Oher
Believing he was joining a family that genuinely cared about him, Oher entered into an agreement with the Tuohys during his senior high school year. He shared in his 2011 memoir, “I Beat the Odds,” that the Tuohys had likened the conservatorship to adoptive parenthood. Oher lived with this belief until his retirement from the NFL in 2016 and only discovered the purported deception in 2023, causing him considerable emotional distress. His attorney mentioned that the revelation deeply hurt Oher, who had always yearned for a stable family. Despite the alleged deceit, the Tuohy family has continued to profit from Oher’s story, promoting their foundation and Leigh Anne Tuohy still refers to him as her adopted son in her professional engagements.
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