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NBC: ‘The Blind Side' subject Michael Oher says adoption by Tuohy family was a lie and he was cut out of money from movie

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‘The Blind Side' subject Michael Oher says adoption by Tuohy family was a lie and he was cut out of money from movie

 

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 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.

 

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Sacks 'n' Stuff

Sacks 'n' Stuff

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1 hour ago, Riggo-toni said:

Oher obviously isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so I will reserve judgement until facts fully come out.

One of his big problems with the movie is that it portrayed him as unintelligent and people formed opinions of him based on that character.

Edited by Sacks 'n' Stuff
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PleaseBlitz

PleaseBlitz

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3 hours ago, Riggo-toni said:

Oher obviously isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so I will reserve judgement until facts fully come out.

 

2 hours ago, Sacks 'n' Stuff said:

One of his big problems with the movie is that it portrayed him as unintelligent and people formed opinions of him based on that character.


The book made him out to be pretty gifted academically (when put in the context of his terrible circumstances) and he’s griped about the movie’s portrayal for years. He’s said it hurt his football career and clouded how people view him. He has said that based on the film, some NFL decision-makers assumed he was mentally slow, when that wasn’t true in, you know, real life. 

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Destino

Destino

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2 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

Oher was a top rated college prospect before the Tuohy's took him in. And yet the movie made it look like he didn't understand football and some 10yo kid and his mama had to teach him the basics. 


Yeah that movie did the man no favors. Made him look like a moron that was rescued and molded, instead of promising kid in a tough spot that was helped. Would like to know how that creative process went though, who wrote the original script was it changed etc. Hollywood can mess up a great stories when given a chance so it’s hard to say who is responsible for what.

 

what I will say is that if the family made millions off the movie and Oher didn’t see a nickel, that stinks to high heaven. 

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CobraCommander

CobraCommander

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16 minutes ago, The Evil Genius said:

It's the Hollywood white savior story that 'Murica eats up. 

I gotta tell you I never did like that story. The movie pissed me off. As others have pointed out it made it seem like he was dumb and the white lady was Jesus Christ saving him. Always rubbed me the wrong way. 

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TheDoyler23

TheDoyler23

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I never watched the movie because it looked like such white savior garbage. 

 

But I read the book. The family were a positive impact for sure in helping him have stability, helping him academically and getting him tested for a learning disability. They helped get him eligible for the NCAA through some pretty significant measures.. But the way he went to their college and the transactional nature of it all always was kind of a put off. The Tuhoys are/were both huge Ole Miss boosters and sure enough, it feels like some sort of payment. 

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TD_washingtonredskins

TD_washingtonredskins

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15 minutes ago, TheDoyler23 said:

I never watched the movie because it looked like such white savior garbage. 

 

But I read the book. The family were a positive impact for sure in helping him have stability, helping him academically and getting him tested for a learning disability. They helped get him eligible for the NCAA through some pretty significant measures.. But the way he went to their college and the transactional nature of it all always was kind of a put off. The Tuhoys are/were both huge Ole Miss boosters and sure enough, it feels like some sort of payment. 

 

Yeah, it's certainly eye-opening, even in the movie. I have no idea how it really went down, but there's a scene where Oher gets mad at the family and asks if they only helped him so he would go play for their school. They tell him to play wherever he wants to. He eventually picks Ole Miss. Again, who knows if any of those things truly happened...but it was at least addressed in the movie. 

 

But, I'm also torn based on some things you mention. They provided stability, helped him become eligible (through significant measures), etc. All of those things very well could have been to land a great OT at their alma mater. I don't know. But it all directly resulted in Oher earning $25-30M in the NFL he probably wouldn't have without their assistance. 

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Sacks 'n' Stuff

Sacks 'n' Stuff

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3 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

It's the Hollywood white savior story that 'Murica eats up. 

 

19 minutes ago, TheDoyler23 said:

I never watched the movie because it looked like such white savior garbage. 

Oh come on. Like all of us white people have some sort of Christ complex when dealing with minorities.
 

Forgive them brothers, for they know not what they say.

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TD_washingtonredskins

TD_washingtonredskins

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5 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:


Because people he trusted when he was a child lied to him and stole his rights to the money. 

 

But, I'm curious of the mechanics of it. Did they say to him "They're making a movie about us and we'll make sure you're taken care of" and then not take care of him? Or did they say to him "They're making a movie about us, make sure your agent covers you" and he didn't have his agent (remember, it came out after he was an NFL player) negotiate for royalties? 

 

It's more a curiosity of HOW he was left out of the pay day. 

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