Michael Oher, the former NFL star whose life story was the inspiration for the 2009 movie "The Blind Side," claims that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never legally adopted him and benefited financially from his story.
Oher, 37, claimed in a new court petition obtained by NBC News that the Tuohys presented him with papers in 2004 which he believed to be adoption papers, but instead was a petition for a conservatorship.
The former Baltimore Ravens tackle, who was a high school football star when the Tuohys invited him to live in their home, said in his petition, which was filed Aug. 14 in Shelby County, Tenn., that the Tuohys asked him to sign a document at age 18 that gave them the legal authority to arrange all of his business deals.
Oher claimed in his petition that the couple used their legal power as conservators to negotiate a business deal with Twentieth Century Fox for the film "The Blind Side."
The movie, which earned Sandra Bullock an Oscar for best actress, was based on Michael Lewis' 2006 release of the book “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game,” which told Oher's story.
The petition states that the movie, which made over $309 million worldwide at the box office, according to Box Office Mojo, paid the Tuohys and their now-adult birth children each $225,000, plus 2.5% of the movie's defined net proceeds. The petition alleges that Oher earned nothing.
More on ‘The Blind Side’ controversy
- ‘The Blind Side’ controversy: What Michael Oher said the movie got wrong about his true story
- 'Blind Side' Tuohy family says Michael Oher's lawsuit is a 'shakedown'
- ‘The Blind Side’ family now: What happened to the Tuohys after the movie came out?
- Sean Tuohy reacts to Michael Oher’s ‘Blind Side’ allegations, says family never made money off film
Sean Tuohy responded to Oher's court filing by telling The Daily Memphian that the family is "devastated."
"It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children," he said. "But we’re going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.”
He added that the family "didn't make any money off the movie."
Later on Aug. 15, Marty Singer, the attorney for Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, issued a lengthy 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 said, 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."
Oher's attorneys said they will let the petition speak for itself. TODAY.com has also reached out to Twentieth Century Fox, representatives for Sandra Bullock, and "The Blind Side" author Michael Lewis for comment but has not heard back.
Oher's petition also states that the Tuohys have continued to misrepresent themselves as his adoptive parents in an effort to promote their foundation, the Making it Happen Foundation, and Leigh Anne Tuohy’s profile as an author and motivational speaker.
“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 petition states.
“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," it added.
"I am disheartened by the revelation shared in the lawsuit today," Oher said in a statement provided to NBC News. "This is a difficult situation for my family and me. I want to ask everyone to please respect our privacy at this time. For now, I will let the lawsuit speak for itself and will offer no further comment.”
Sean Tuohy told The Daily Memphian that the family was told by lawyers that they could not adopt Oher because he was 18, so "the only thing we could do was to have a 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 said. “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.”
Oher, who also played for the Tennessee Titans and the Carolina Panthers before retiring from the NFL in 2016, is seeking to end the Tuohys’ conservatorship and to stop them from using his name, image and likeness.
The athlete and author also wants a full accounting of the money the Tuohys have earned as his conservators, and to have the couple pay him his fair share of profits as well as unspecified "compensatory and punitive damages."