Sean Tuohy reacts to Michael Oher’s ‘Blind Side’ allegations, says family never made money off film

After former NFL star Michael Oher, whose life story was the inspiration behind the movie "The Blind Side," filed a petition on Monday seeking to end his conservatorship he said he was tricked into signing at 18, the Tuohy family has responded to the allegations.

Sean Tuohy, portrayed by Tim McGraw in the hit film, told The Daily Memphian he found out about the petition when a friend sent him the link to an ESPN story breaking the news.

"We’re devastated," Tuohy 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."

Oher, who played for the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers and Tennessee Titans, alleged in the petition the Tuohys presented him with paperwork in 2004 that he believed to be adoption papers. Instead, the document made the Tuohys his conservators but did not legally make him a part of their family, the petition said.

"Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys," the petition stated.

The document, which Oher signed at 18, gave the Tuohys the legal authority to arrange all of his business deals, Oher alleged in the petition. The Tuohys then allegedly used their power to negotiate a deal for the film "The Blind Side," according to the petition.

The petition alleges the film, which made over $300 million worldwide at the box office, according to Box Office Mojo, paid the Tuohys and their now-adult birth children $225,000 each, plus 2.5% of the movie’s defined net proceeds.

Oher, 37, earned nothing from the film, according to the petition.

Tuohy told The Daily Memphian: "We didn’t make any money off the movie."

"We were never offered money; we never asked for money," he said, adding that Michael Lewis, the author of the book "The Blind Side," gave the family, including Oher, half of his share. Tuohy told the newspaper that ended up being about $14,000 each.

Later on Aug. 15, Marty Singer, the attorney for Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, issued a statement on Oher’s filing.

"Unbeknownst to the public, Mr. Oher has actually attempted to run this play several times before — but it seems that numerous other lawyers stopped representing him once they saw the evidence and learned the truth," the statement reads, in part. "Sadly, Mr. Oher has finally found a willing enabler and filed this ludicrous lawsuit as a cynical attempt to drum up attention in the middle of his latest book tour."

In a statement on Aug. 14, Oher’s attorneys said they will let the petition speak for itself.

Sean Tuohy told the Daily Memphian the conservatorship had nothing to do with the movie, and was a route to helping secure Oher's eligibility to play college football.

"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," he said. "We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court."

Tennessee law does allow for adoption for those above the age of 18, though Tuohy said he was advised it was not permitted in the state, The Daily Memphian reported.

Tuohy said the family is prepared to do "whatever Michael wants," even ending the conservatorship.

"It’s hard because you have to defend yourself, but whatever he wants, we’ll do. We’re not in this for anything other than whatever he wants," Tuohy told the Memphian. "If he’d have said, 'I don’t want to be part of the family anymore,' we’d have been very upset, but we absolutely would have done it."

Tuohy's son, Sean Tuohy, Jr., also spoke about the timing of the petition in an interview with Barstool Radio.

"If he says he learned that in February, I find that hard to believe," he said.

"There was things back in 2020, 2021 that (were) like, if you guys give me this much, I won’t go public with things," he added.

Still, he said the lawsuit won't change the love he has for Oher.

"I loved Mike at 16, I love Mike now ... he’s 37," he said. "And I’ll love him at 67. So there’s not going to be any legal docs thing that makes me go, 'Screw that guy.'"

Oher, now retired after playing eight seasons in the NFL and winning a Super Bowl, is asking for a Tennessee court to end the conservatorship, prohibit the Tuohys from using his name and likeness and pay him his fair share of profits.