Subject of 2009’s ‘Blind Side’ alleges guardians made millions from a lie
The life story of the former NFL star Michael Oher became one of the most inspiring sports stories of all time when it was immortalised in the 2009 movie The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock, but now the ex-athlete has come out to say that a key part of the story was fictionalised.
Adopted from poverty by a rich white American family, whose supposed generosity helped to foster an iconic athlete, Oher has now petitioned a court in Tennessee with allegations that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never actually adopted him. Instead, Oher claims that he was deceived into signing a document shortly after his 18th birthday, which allowed the married couple to make business deals off of his name, according to an original report from ESPN.
This said deal allowed the Tuohys to give their own children millions of dollars following the success of the 2009 Oscar-winning film, all whilst Oher got nothing.
A section of the legal filing reads: “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…Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys”.
The petition to the court asks for an end to Tuohys’ conservatorship as well as an injunction that would bar the pair from using the athlete’s name and likeness in the future. It also further asks that Oher is paid his due profits for the money they have made in his name.
Speaking in his book When Your Back’s Against the Wall, released earlier this August, 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”.
Take a look at a post promoting Oher’s new book below.
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