According to People It has been 14 years since the release of The Blind Side, and Michael Oher’s family is making headlines once again.
On Aug. 14, the retired NFL star whose life inspired the Oscar-nominated film, filed a legal petition to terminate a conservatorship alleging Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy lied about adopting him while making millions off his name.
In a filing in the Shelby County, Tenn. probate court, Oher claimed the Tuohy family tricked him into making them his conservators when he was 18, allegedly telling him there was no consequential difference between being adopted and entering into a conservatorship.
“Michael trusted the Tuohys and signed where they told him to sign,” the legal filing, obtained by PEOPLE, claims. “What he signed, however, and unknown to Michael until after February 2023, were not adoption papers, or the equivalent of adoption papers.”
Oher also alleged in his petition that the Tuohys, including Leigh Anne and Sean’s two children by birth, Collins Tuohy and Sean Tuohy Jr., were paid $225,000 for the 2009 film The Blind Side plus 2.5% of the film’s proceeds, and did not include him in the deal.
The Tuohys, however, alleged in their 2010 book, In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving, that they split the profits “five ways,” according to ESPN, who first reported the news.
Oher first met the Tuohy family when he was a student at Briarcrest Christian School in Eads, Tenn. after bouncing around a number of foster homes since he was 11 years old, having been raised in a family of 12. His mother Denise had struggled with drug addiction and his father died in 2004.
While attending Briarcrest, he often stayed with classmates’ families because he was “on his own” and “nearly penniless,” according to his recent legal filing.
After “occasionally” staying with the Tuohy family during that time, the filing claims the family invited him to officially move in during the summer of 2004.
“Almost immediately after Michael moved in, the Tuohys presented him with what he understood to be legal papers that were a necessary step in the adoption process,” the filing claims.
The conservatorship papers he wound up signing instead gave the Tuohys “total control” over Oher’s ability to sign contracts, the petition alleges.
His filing claims the Tuohy family “falsely and publicly represented themselves” as Oher’s adoptive parents.
Though he received scholarship offers from a number of colleges after high school, Oher ultimately decided to play football at the University of Mississippi, the alma mater of Leigh Anne and Sean.
In 2009, he graduated with a degree in criminal justice.
That same year, he was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens during the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. The Tuohy family was by his side for the special honor.
The family also cheered on Oher at the 2013 Super Bowl, when the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers.
Following his Super Bowl win, Oher played for the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers before retiring from professional football in 2017.
Oher’s relationship with the Tuohy family began to fall apart after the release of The Blind Side, which he said bothered him because it depicted him as unintelligent.
He then learned he was the only member of the family not receiving royalty checks from the film, his attorney J. Gerard Stranch IV told ESPN.
In recent years, Oher has been notably absent from the family’s social media profiles.
The family was also not photographed at Oher’s wedding in November 2022, when he tied the knot with his college sweetheart, Tiffany Roy, with whom he shares four children.
Michael Oher always hated the Blind Side movie and now comes to find out his “loving parents” were allegedly scamming him the whole time because they saw he could be an NFL player. Movie portrayed him as mentally slow because that helped the white savior plot and helped Sandra… pic.twitter.com/uy27FCIFth
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) August 14, 2023
and
I read Michael Oher's book. The movie made it seem like they found a simpleton on the street & taught him football. Dude was already playing high school football.
— Charles J. Moore (@charles270) August 14, 2023
and
Michael Oher, subject of "The Blind Side," petitioned a court with allegations that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never adopted him, but rather tricked him into a signing a document making them his conservators and enriching themselves
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 14, 2023
and
When Michael Oher had to come out years ago and say that he had in fact had a bed before when the film made it seem like he’s never even seen one ?? like oh everyone involved is going to hell even the dog!!
— I Could’ve Just Sat On In With Massa (@WrittenByHanna) August 14, 2023
and
I’m glad Michael Oher has been saying The Blind Side was mostly bullshit. The movie made it seem like the Tuohys found him wandering in the cold, bought him his first bed and introduced him to football. He was already playing 3 sports when they met.
— Reid (@RVAReid) August 14, 2023
and
On a happier note, Michael Oher has a beautiful family of his own now. pic.twitter.com/ZK4nTVWhk3
— Again, for Taquita! (@CoriAgain2) August 14, 2023
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