Michael Oher, 'Blind Side' subject, alleges adoption by Tuohys was a lie
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • last year • 19 commentsBy: Doha Madani and Diana Dasrath
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Former NFL star Michael Oher, the subject of the book and movie "The Blind Side," alleges that the couple who took him in as a teenager misled him into believing they were adopting him — and that they instead placed him in a conservatorship, according to a court filing Monday.
"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," said the petition to terminate the conservatorship in Shelby County Court in Tennessee.
The story of Oher and the Tuohy family became the subject of an Oscar-winning film, "The Blind Side," starring Sandra Bullock in the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy. The film, based on the Michael Lewis book of the same name, chronicled Oher's life as a homeless child through his college football career and eventual NFL stardom.
The Tuohys negotiated a deal with 20th Century Fox that left Oher without any payment for the rights to his name, likeness and life story, while the Tuohy family received a contract price of $225,000 and 2.5% of the film's net proceeds, the petition states.
The film has grossed over $300 million, the petition says. A $200,000 donation was also made to Leigh Anne Tuohy's charitable foundation.
The petition said Oher made no money off the film, which was released after he completed his college career and would not have affected his NCAA eligibility.
According to the petition, Oher does not recall signing the agreement for the rights to his life story. The document has a signature that appears to be his, but "nobody ever presented this document to him with any explanation," the filing says.
The petition accuses the Tuohys of a breach of their fiduciary duty as conservators "so gross and appalling that they should be sanctioned by this court."
Oher was a ward of the state of Tennessee by the age of 11 and homeless as a child, according to the filing. A friend's father helped Oher enroll in 2002 in Briarcrest Christian School, where he played basketball and football.
The families of classmates often let Oher, who fell through the cracks of a "broken social system," stay in their homes, the petition said.
"Where other parents of Michael's classmates saw Michael simply as a nice kid in need, Conservators Sean Tuohy and Leigh Anne Tuohy saw something else: A gullible young man whose athletic talent could be exploited for their own benefit," the petition said.
Oher alleges that the summer before his senior year, after he became a legal adult in July 2004, the Tuohys offered him a place to live with their family in their home. The couple said they would legally adopt him, and Oher believed them, the petition said.
Oher learned only in February that documents the Tuohys asked him to sign under the belief that it was part of the "adoption process" were actually conservatorship papers that would strip away his legal rights, the petition said.
The Tuohys told him that because he was no longer a minor, the adoption paperwork was titled a conservatorship, the petition alleged.
"At no point did the Tuohys inform Michael that they would have ultimate control of all his contracts, and as a result Michael did not understand that if the Conservatorship was granted, he was signing away his right to contract for himself," the petition said.
The conservatorship was granted until Oher reached the age of 25 or until the court terminated the order, but the arrangement was never terminated, Oher's petition said.
In addition to termination, Oher's petition asks the court to issue an injunction barring the Tuohys from using his name and likeness.
A phone call to Sean Tuohy was not immediately returned Monday. An attorney for the Tuohys declined to comment.
The Tuohys' former representatives at Creative Artists Agency said they have not worked with the family since 2007.
Sean Tuohy Jr., known as SJ, told Barstool Sports that he believes the issues between Oher and the Tuohy family built over time. He alleged that Oher asked for money from the family around 2021.
He added that he will never say anything negative about Oher.
"I get it, why he's mad, I understand," SJ Tuohy said. "It stinks that it will play out on the public stage. ... That part sucks, but oh well."
SJ Tuohy also said that he was not aware of the details of the movie deal but knew that his father gave him a check a few years after the movie came out. He added that he did not know why his parents chose a conservatorship over adoption but assumed it was because of Oher's age.
"There's no, like, money being held anywhere. ... There's no power of attorney still being held," he said. "I was accusatory of my parents to some extent, like I want to make sure I'm not defending the wrong side of this."
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I'll be interested in hearing the Tuohy's side. They gained a lot from this relationship, financially. I hope Oher got a share of the money.
And he did okay in his NFL career........................
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your abc and clarionledger links don't work
That's strange. Thank you for pointing it our.
I kept tapping it and it wouldn't do anything. And you're welcome.
I wanted to read those because I heard a part of the Tuouhy's side this morning on the news
If I remember correctly, the book guy gave them all $14K of his money. Other than that, they all, including the kid(s) got $225K for the movie.
I heard the lawyer for the Tuohys (on one of the news cable channels) stating their position as pushing back: 'The family had a role in this production of Oher's life drama equal to his own and thus were entitled to make certain decisions on their own behalf.' (Poor paraphrase from memory.) It does make a point—up to a point. As they were a mixed family. I guess what is being 'argued' is how much financially is proportionally fair to their involvement with Oher, familially.
I will say this: It is critically important when families blend someone outside of blood into it that everything be done in order and above board. That is, it is "alarming," "distracting," and a cause of "great frustration and confusion" to learn the 'terms' are not what one believes them to be years later on how one is absorbed into a/ny relationship.
Actually that is quite a stretch. The percentage of kids that age that make to the Pro’s is fractionally small. There was no guarantees he was going to make it.
Far from it.
What I don't get is who signed his NFL contract documents if he could not contract for himself? And, why would conservators on the "up and up" not clarify for an adult that they considered him unable to manage his life?
One wonders where Oher would be had the Tuoys not come along and helped him out.
There is so much more to this story than we know right now. Best to wait and see what comes out before judging either side.
So, you suggest/imagine Oher BENEFITTED from being in conservatorship of the Tuohys. Where have I heard something similar before? (Chuckles.)
Sorry, I could not resist a Florida reference to African American AP courses reconstruction there.
To be fair, you do have a point. . .though it is one for the ages now, because we can not go back in time to try a different path/outcome! Only thing to do is to press forward and see what the (new) outcome will for this set of events.
Do you believe Oher received no benefits from his association with the family?
Did the 'humor' aspect/tone of my comment go over your head? Or, is it so enticing to dig at every nook and cranny of my comment/s for something to trap and troll?
After all, I did write back that Sparty On had/made a point worth acknowledging. Moreover, I remarked to 'Just Jim' on that very point as expressed by the Touhys attorney at 1.1.5.
thanks for yet once again not answering.
not at all. maybe I am just unfamiliar with your brand of humor.
Nothing funny about slavery, CB.
Tell that to somebody else you know of; write DeSantis a letter or post a comment on his office blog (if one). Me? Sometimes I have to fall back on humor to keep from crying or 'exploding.'
Now can we get back to the topic of discussion: Oher vs. Tuohy family?
This will generate some good publicity for Michael's on-going book tour.
Bazinga