Michael Oher. Shutterstock
Michael Oher broke his silence on the lawsuit he filed against Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy that claims he was never officially adopted by the family.
“I am disheartened by the revelation shared in the lawsuit today,” Oher, 37, said in a statement to the New York Post on Monday, August 14. “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.”
Earlier on Monday, Us Weekly confirmed that Oher filed a suit against Sean and Leigh Anne, both 63. In the filing, Oher claimed that the Tuohys convinced him to sign a document making them his conservators under the ruse they were adopting him. The conservatorship gave the family legal authority to make business deals in Oher’s name — something Oher didn’t learn until earlier this year.
“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 filing reads. “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.”
Oher is now seeking to terminate the conservatorship and asking the court to prohibit the Tuohys from using his name and likeness.
Oher’s story was the subject of the 2009 film The Blind Side, which stars Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne, Tim McGraw as Sean and Quinton Aaron as Oher. The film told the supposed story of how Oher went from an impoverished youth and worked his way toward a professional football career thanks to the support and help from the Tuohy family. (Oher played at Ole Miss for four seasons before he was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2009.)
The Oscar-nominated film made more than $300 million at the box office and scored Bullock, 59, an Academy Award for her portrayal of the Tuohy matriarch. Oher’s lawsuit also claims that Leigh Anne, Sean and their two birth children each received $225,000 — plus 2.5 percent of the film’s “defined net proceeds” for the movie — but Oher never saw a dime.
“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 docs state. “All monies made in said manner should in all conscience and equity be disgorged and paid over to the said ward, Michael Oher.”
In addition to ending the conservatorship, Oher is seeking that the Tuohys pay him his “fair share of profits,” plus “unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.”
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