“The Blind Side Deception: Former NFL Star Michael Oher, of Hit Movie Fame, Exposes Sham Adoption and Financial Manipulation by Tuohy Family”
In a startling revelation, former NFL player Michael Oher, famously portrayed in the hit movie “The Blind Side,” has unveiled that the acclaimed adoptive parents, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, never formally adopted him. Instead, Oher asserts that they cunningly coerced him into relinquishing his legal right to use his name for business dealings after he reached adulthood.
An ESPN report highlights a comprehensive 14-page legal petition filed in Shelby County, Tennessee, probate court. This petition alleges that the Tuohys exploited their conservatorship authority to amass substantial royalties from the acclaimed 2009 Warner Bros. film, featuring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw.
Describing the alleged betrayal, the legal filing states, “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.”
The truth came to light in February 2023 when Oher discovered the deceit, realizing that the conservatorship he had consented to did not confer a genuine familial relationship with the Tuohys, as he had been led to believe.
If Oher had been officially adopted, he would have retained control over his financial affairs as a bona fide family member. However, the conservatorship vested this authority in the Tuohys.
The celebrated movie, based on Michael Lewis’ eponymous book, chronicled Oher’s journey from poverty to NFL success with the assistance of the Tuohy family. Sandra Bullock’s portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy garnered her numerous accolades, while the film amassed over $300 million in box office revenue.
Now 37, Oher enjoyed a successful NFL career with the Ravens, Titans, and Panthers after excelling at Ole Miss and becoming a first-round draft pick in 2009. Seeking justice, he intends to terminate the Tuohys’ conservatorship, secure an injunction against the use of his name and likeness, demand an account of their earnings from his name, a rightful share of profits, and punitive damages.
“Since at least August of 2004, Conservators have allowed Michael, specifically, and the public, generally, to believe that Conservators adopted Michael and have used that untruth to gain financial advantages for themselves and the foundations which they own or which they exercise control,” the petition says. “All monies made in said manner should in all conscience and equity be disgorged and paid over to the said ward, Michael Oher.”
“People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie,” he said in 2015. “They don’t really see the skills and the kind of player I am. That’s why I get downgraded so much, because of something off the field.
“This stuff, calling me a bust, people saying if I can play or not … that has nothing to do with football. It’s something else off the field. That’s why I don’t like that movie.”
