‘The Blind Side’ controversy: What Michael Oher said the movie got wrong about his true story

A new legal claim from Michael Oher, the former NFL player and subject of hit book and film “The Blind Side,” that the Tuohy family never actually adopted him has caused a stir.

But this isn't the first time the 2009 film sparked controversy.

Though many found “The Blind Side” inspiring, critics were quick to point out that the movie had portrayals of white saviorism and racial dynamics.

Since the movie release, Oher has opened up about his side of the story, saying the movie wasn't an accurate portrayal of his life, and is doing so more vocally now. In August 2023, Oher filed a petition alleging that the popular movie has major inaccuracies and claiming that the Tuohy parents exploited him for their personal gain.

Here's what to know.

What are ‘The Blind Side’ movie and book about?

Both the film and book follow Michael Oher, played by Quinton Aaron in the movie, as he navigates moving through school systems while homeless.

After recognizing his potential, Leigh Ann Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and her husband Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw), take the high schooler under their wing. In the film, the Tuohy pair eventually adopt Oher, which changes both the family and his lives.

Oher goes onto to excel in academics and become a star football player, garnering him a number of football scholarships and eventually landing him a spot on the Baltimore Ravens.

“The Blind Side” was nominated for best picture at the 2010 Oscars, with Bullock earning an Academy Award for best performance by a leading actress in a leading role that same year.

What has Michael Oher said 'The Blind Side' movie?

In his 2023 memoir, "I Beat the Odds," Oher said the gap between the movie's portrayal of his life and his actual life was significant.

"While the movie did a great job of raising awareness about teens in foster care who might succeed if given a loving family and a chance, it did not do a good job of accurately painting my life. Situations get exaggerated for the sake of Hollywood. I understood that when I heard a movie was being made, but it’s a strange process to live through: to suddenly lose control of your own story and to have your story written and nearly completed before you were approached for an interview," he wrote.

Oher had two major issues with his portrayal in the movie: One, that he was written as being "dumb," and another that he needed to be taught football — when in fact he knew it well.

“I felt like (‘The Blind Side’) portrayed me as dumb instead of as a kid who had never had consistent academic instruction and ended up thriving once he got it,” he wrote in the memoir.

He continued, "Quinton Aaron did a great job acting the part, but I could not figure out why the director chose to show me as someone who had to be taught the game of football. Whether it was S.J. moving around ketchup bottles or Leigh Anne explaining to me what blocking is about, I watched those scenes thinking, ‘No, that’s not me at all! I’ve been studying — really studying — the game since I was a kid!’

Oher went into more detail on “The Jim Rome Show.”

“The movie took away the hard work and dedication I had from a child. First one in the locker room, last one out in. I think the biggest, for me, is being portrayed as not being able to read or write. Second grade, I was doing plays in front of the school. When you go to a locker room and your teammates don’t think you can learn a playbook, that’s heavy,” he said.

Finally, Oher said that "for the most part,” his “struggle and fight for survival ... was a solo journey.”

“I survived the hands dealt to me from the ages of three to 18, before the Tuohys ever entered the scene like you saw on the big screen,” he in his memoir.

He told Jim Rome, “You don’t need to have someone come save you and rescue you to be successful."

Oher also said the movie's central plot – that he was adopted — is inaccurate

Based on court documents obtained by NBC News, Oher said that the film’s portrayal of him as a Black teenager experiencing homelessness and drifting from school to school was accurate.

But the premise of the movie — that he was adopted — is inaccurate, according to Oher. Instead, he entered into a conservatorship.

Despite the pinnacle of “The Blind Side” being his adoption into the Tuohy family, Oher said in court documents the parents never attempted to obtain legal custody of him. They did, however, invite Oher to live with them, refer to them as “mom” and “dad,” and bought him clothes.

According to Oher's legal filing, the Tuohys saw him as “a gullible young man whose athletic talent could be exploited for their own benefit."

The Tuohy family declined to comment to NBC News, but Sean Tuohy told The Daily Memphian his family is prepared to do “whatever Michael wants,” including end the conservatorship, which he said was chosen instead of adoption

“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,” he said, calling the allegations “insulting.”

Tuohy also explained the intention behind a conservatorship, saying it was a way to get around NCAA’s scrutiny, since Oher was headed to college to play football.

Tuohy played basketball at Ole Miss and, with Oher eventually playing football there, it would seem like he was a “booster,” or a third party supporting a college sports team.

“Michael was obviously living with us for a long time, and the NCAA didn’t like that,” Tuohy told the Daily Memphian. “They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was actually part of the family. I sat Michael down and told him, ‘If you’re planning to go to Ole Miss — or even considering Ole Miss — we think you have to be part of the family. This would do that, legally.’ 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. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court.”

TODAY.com has reached out to the NCAA for comment.

Adoption is legal after 18 in the state of Tennessee, but Tuohy said he was advised against it.

The Tuohys issued an official statement to TODAY: “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. 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.”

Oher also said the movie impacted his football career and perceptions of his intelligence

Oher, in the memoir and elsewhere, said the movie overshadowed his football career.

In 2015, he outright told ESPN he "(doesn't) like the movie." He said, "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.’’

Oher also wrote that questions of his intelligence from the book and movie have impacted his trajectory. He wrote he felt there was "a lot of doubt" surrounding his "intellect," saying he was often "singled out and pulled aside for questioning" about topics that had nothing to do with football. He also said he scored "higher" on the Wonderlic test, an exam to measure math, vocabulary, and reasoning abilities, than other teammates.

"In their minds, the character of Michael in 'The Blind Side' was the same Michael they were eyeing for their draft pick. It is weird to say, especially knowing there are many who dream of having a book written about them, but the book was starting to become one of the biggest unforeseen obstacles in my life. 

"References to the use of ketchup bottles being my knowledge of the game — a scene many will remember from the movie — would make many of the teams hesitant," he continued.

The movie also courted controversy due to accusations of white saviorism

"The Blind Side" has been criticized as being a depiction of white saviorism in action. The conversation bubbled up when "The Blind Side" landed on Netflix, and is doing so again now.

In the book “Screen Saviors: Hollywood Fictions of Whiteness,” sociologist Hernan Vera and film critic Andrew Gordon, define a white savior as “the redeemer of the weak, the great leader who saves blacks from slavery or oppression (and) rescues people of color from poverty and disease.”

According to film critic Wesley Morris, “The Blind Side” examines “the Touhys’ compassion and the idea of a white community banding together to help a disenfranchised Black teenager.”

“Commercial American movies seem interested in stories about young Black men saved from God knows what by nice white people or sports. Here it’s both,” he wrote for the Boston Globe in 2009. “That double jackpot happens occasionally in life. But it’s a staple in Hollywood, where large, kind black men are sometimes both a blessing and a threat.”

Oher's character portrayal as a shy, quiet football player was scrutinized, too.

Melissa Anderson of the Dallas Observer wrote he was "mute, docile and ever grateful to the white folks who took him in." Morris, on NPR, said the movie "denies" Michael Oher's character "agency:" "I just can’t imagine that he could have gotten as far as he’s gotten ... were he just sort of a passive bystander to his success."

Sports reporter Robert Littal also reacted Aug. 14 to news of the lawsuit on Twitter, writing that the film “portrayed (Oher) as mentally slow because that helped the white savior plot.”

University of Washington psychology professor Anthony Osuna wrote, “One time I got into an argument with my friends mom about whether The Blind Side is a ‘White Savior’ movie … my case has aged well and this story has gotten more frustrating.”