Michael Oher, the former NFL player who was the inspiration behind the movie The Blind Side, recently filed a petition alleging that Sean Touhy and Leigh Anne Tuohy put him in a conservatorship and made millions of dollars negotiating deals on his behalf.
The petition was filed in Shelby County, Tennessee on Monday, and it states Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy “exploited” Michael “for their own benefit” after realizing he was a “gullible young man” with athletic ability.
Michael says he met the Tuohys during the summer of his junior year in high school when “a broken social system” left him homeless, and they helped him out by letting him stay in their home often during that summer.
He said they took him shopping for clothes, and before his senior year, they asked him to move in with them.
The documents state:
The Tuohys did tell Michael they loved him and that they intended to legally adopt him.
Michael believed them, was delighted to be part of a real and stable family, and trusted Mr. and Mrs. Tuohy completely.
According to the documents. a short time later Michael said the Tuohys presented him with legal papers that he thought were adoption papers, but he found out in February 2023 that the papers were a petition to appoint them as his conservators, which allowed them to “have total control over Michael Oher’s ability to negotiate for or enter any contract, despite the fact he was over 18 years of age and had no diagnosed physical or psychological disabilities.”
Michael alleges the conservatorship allowed the Tuohys to negotiate a deal with Fox for the 2009 movie The Blind Side based on his life.
According to Michael, the Tuohys secured themselves and their kids “a contract price of $225,0000 plus 2.5% of all future ‘defined net proceeds.”
Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in the hit film.
Michael claims a contract giving away the rights to his story without any form of payment to him, was signed as a part of the Fox deal.
He said he “at no time ever willingly or knowingly signed this document and that nobody” ever made him aware of what the document actually entailed.
Michael is asking a judge to end the conservatorship, and he’s asking for an accounting of the money the Touhys made by negotiating contracts on his behalf.
Michael Oher who played offensive tackle in the NFL from 2009 to 2016 for the Baltimore Ravens (2009-2013), the Tennessee Titans (2014), and the Carolina Panthers (2015-2016) feels he was wrongfully portrayed as dumb in the movie The Blind Side.
Michael Oher is currently 37 years old.
Watch the official trailer of The Blind Side below:
Sean Tuohy told the Daily Memphian that he and is wife are devastated by Michael Oher’s accusations and legal petition against them.
We’re devastated. 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.
The family’s famed attorney Marty Singer released a statement saying Michael attempted to shake down the Touhy family for $15 million prior to his lawsuit.
He allegedly told them that if they didn’t cut him an eight-figure check, he’d “plant a negative story about them in the press.”
Am I the only one who thinks this case is pretty easy to solve?
The Touhy simply needs to produce the adoption papers for Michael Oher.
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Source: TMZ
This situation is very unfortunate 😥…
I wonder what made Michael become aware at this late stage ?
That’s the question I have. Did he run out of money?
Why now? He’s 37 years old!