Tuohy family break silence after NFL star in Bullock film makes 'lying' claims
The Tuohy family have hit back and defended themselves after Michael Oher claimed the plot of the film ‘The Blind Side’ was a lie.
On Monday, Oher - selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft - filed a petition in a Tennessee court to end his 2004 conservatorship, claiming he learned in February 2023 that the family had never legally adopted him. Oher played for the Carolina Panthers and Tennessee Titans after winning a Super Bowl with the Ravens.
The former tackle has alleged his story, the inspiration for the hit movie starring Sandra Bullock, is a lie. ‘The Blind Side’ - released in 2009 and nominated at the Academy Awards for best picture with star Sandra Bullock nominated for Best Actress - depicted Oher as a young African-American male from an impoverished background until he was adopted by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, a wealthy white family.
Oher claimed the couple tricked him into signing paperwork to make the Tuohy family his conservators, giving them legal permission to make and secure business deals using his name. According to ESPN, a 14-page petition filed in Shelby County, Tennessee alleged the family never adopted Oher, instead using his name to earn more than $300 million (£236.5m) in royalties from the movie.
Sean Tuohy, whose wife Leigh Anne was played by Bullock, has denied the allegation that his family duped Oher in order to make millions from his story, suggesting his family are ‘devastated’ by the allegations. Speaking to the Daily Memphian, he said: “It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children. But we’re going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.”
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He insisted the family contacted lawyers who informed them that they could not adopt Oher as he was over the age of 18, claiming: “They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was actually part of the family. We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn’t adopt over the age of 18; the only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship.”
While adult adoption is legal in Tennessee, Tuohy Sr. ultimately claims he did not benefit immensely in a financial sense from the movie. He believes everyone, including Oher, received an equal share of the film’s profits to total around $14,000 ($11,000) each.
Still, Tuohy is willing to end the conservatorship if that’s what Oher wants, adding: “I want whatever Michael wants. It’s hard because you have to defend yourself, but whatever he wants, we’ll do.”
The biological son of Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy also responded to the petition. Sean ‘SJ’ Tuohy Jr. believes Oher was aware he wasn’t officially adopted before February 2023, suggesting text messages claim the former NFL star was aware of the situation as early as 2020.
Sandra Bullock was nominated for an Oscar due to her performance in 'The Blind Side' (Ralph Nelson)“If he says he learned that in February, I find that hard to believe,” he said told Barstool Sports. “I went back to my texts today to look at - I was curious today, randomly, to go back to look at our family group text and texts to see what things have been said.
“There were things back in 2020, 2021 that were like, ‘If you guys give me this much, then I won’t go public with things.’ So I don’t know if that’s true. I think everyone learned in the past year about the conservatorship stuff because of Britney Spears, so maybe that’s the case, but it doesn’t add up.”
Despite the legal proceedings, ‘SJ’ Tuohy wants the best for Oher, adding: “I hope he gets everything that's entitled to him legally.”
The petition filed by Oher details the struggles he went through at a young age, as well as how he met the Tuohys, whose children attended school alongside him at Briarcrest Christian School. The petition claims the Tuohys did not take any legal action to assume custody of Oher.
In 2004, Oher entered the conservatorship, which he allegedly understood as a form of legal adoption. The petition claims he was ‘falsely advised by the Tuohy’s that because he was over the age of eighteen, that the legal action to adopt Michael would have to be called a ‘conservatorship’ but it was, for all intents and purposes, an adoption’.
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