Michael Oher, the subject of the 2009 Oscar-winning movie “The Blind Side,” has alleged that a central part of his story — that he was adopted by a wealthy family — is false. Instead of being portrayed as a homeless, dark-skinned child, Oher was adopted by a typical American family in the film. The couple, who took in former NFL player Michael Oher when he was in high school, helped him get over his learning disabilities and inspired him to play American football professionally.
Oher married Tiffany Roy in November at the JW Marriott in Nashville, Tennessee. The couple has been married for a few years but has not released the exact date of their marriage. Tiffany and Michael run a non-profit organization named Beat the Odds Inc. Oher was adopted by Tuohy and her husband, Sean Tuohy, when he was a teenager. After being in and out of foster care, they took him in and helped him with his schooling and football career.
Nobody from the family was present at Michael Oher’s wedding, and none of them shared their congratulations on social media. His adoptive family were not present in the wedding videos either, further adding credence to the assumption that they weren’t invited to share in the ceremony.
Despite Oher’s recent petition against Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, they will not call Michael Oher their adopted son on their website or public speaking materials amid allegations that the Tuohy family lied about his adoption and forced him into a conservatorship.
📹 Sean Tuohy and Son SJ Respond to Michael Oher’s Lawsuit
Sean Tuohy and his son, SJ, are speaking out about former NFL player Michael Oher’s legal petition, which alleges that the Tuohy …
Does Michael Oher have a relationship with his biological siblings?
We don’t know if Michael still talks to his siblings. He wants to stay in touch with them, but we don’t know how. Michael met the Tuohys through Collins Tuohy. The Tuohys adopted Oher and gave him a stable home. After retiring from the NFL in 2017, Michael has done charity work and advocacy.
Why did Leigh Anne Tuohy take Michael in?
Help Michael get off the streets. Michael has been in foster care since he was young. He is kind and innocent, but no family has been willing to give him the opportunities he deserves. Leigh Anne invites Michael into her family because she is kind.
Personality: feisty, strong-willed, dedicated. Leigh Anne doesn’t take any crap. She stands up for Michael, who she sees as her own child. She helps him get better grades so he can try out for football.
Does Michael Oher stay in touch with the Tuohy family?
When asked if Oher knew the Tuohys, Farese said no. He’s been estranged for about 10 years and has become more and more vocal and threatening. Oher said the Tuohys used their power as conservators to negotiate a deal with 20th Century Fox that paid them and their children millions of dollars from The Blind Side. The petition said that all four Tuohy family members got $225,000 for the film plus 2.5% of the profits. Fishman says the Tuohys and Oher got much less than $225,000 since The Blind Side came out. He says it’s about $100,000 each.
What was the Tuohy family accused of?
Oher said the Tuohys lied about adopting him in 2004, which gave them the right to make business deals in his name. Hart said the Tuohys have admitted their conservatorship helped Oher commit to playing for Mississippi. In his lawsuit in August, Oher asked for the conservatorship to end and for a full accounting of money earned from his name, image, and likeness. The Tuohys and Oher were shown to have a close relationship in the 2006 book The Blind Side and the 2009 movie of the same name. Oher said he didn’t get any money from the movie, while the Tuohys and their children made millions. The Tuohys said they were ready to end the conservatorship at any time. They said Oher got the same share of the Blind Side movie profits as they did, about $138,000.
Does Michael Oher still talk to the Tuohy family?
Mike’s relationship with the Tuohys started to go downhill when he found out he was portrayed as dumb in the movie. Their relationship got worse when he found out he wasn’t getting money from the movie and that he wasn’t adopted.
Oher married Tiffany Roy in November 2022. The couple dated for 17 years after meeting at Ole Miss. Oher and Roy have two biological children and two stepchildren.
Wife’s website says he went to Ole Miss on a basketball scholarship. He led Ole Miss to its first SEC Championship, set records, and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. The New Jersey Nets drafted him in 1982, but he chose to play overseas. Sean and Leigh Anne married in 1982 after dating at Ole Miss. Sean is an entrepreneur who owns and operates several fast-food restaurants.
Why didn’t Tuohys adopt Michael?
Sean Tuohy said Oher wasn’t adopted because the lawyers said they couldn’t adopt someone over 18. That’s not true. Tennessee law allows them to adopt him. They admit they didn’t adopt him. Why didn’t they? The bigger issue is that the Tuohys allegedly took advantage of the relationship to shortchange Oher’s share of the revenue from the film version of The Blind Side. The Tuohys say they didn’t take money from Oher.
How did Michael Oher meet his adopted family?
He played in the Tennessee All-State Game for football and basketball and the Army All-American Bowl game during his senior year. He had many football scholarship offers.
He was in foster care and often slept over at his classmates’ houses. After his junior year, Oher stayed with the Tuohys and their kids. The Tuohys invited Oher to live with them in July, according to the petition. Oher said Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy told him they loved him and encouraged him to call them mom and dad. They said they would adopt him.
Why was Michael Oher estranged from the Tuohy family?
Now 37, Oher wants to know how much money he made from his life story, even though he says he didn’t get anything from the movie. He says the Tuohys lied about being his adoptive parents. He only found out in February that the conservatorship didn’t make them his family. The Tuohys said they loved Oher like a son and supported him. They are upset by Oher’s accusations, which have been going on for about a decade.
RELATED: Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy want to end the conservatorship for Michael Oher, says their lawyer.
Did the Tuohy family attend Michael’s wedding?
Michael married his partner, Tifanny Roy, in Nashville. The Tuohys were not there. The athlete has four children with his wife: sons Kobi and MJ and daughters Kierstin and Naivi. Former NFL star Michael Oher has said he doesn’t like the 2009 film The Blind Side, which is based on his life. The retired athlete says the Sandra Bullock movie is based on a lie. He says he is not the adopted son of Sean and Leigh Anne Touhy as the movie shows. In another surprising turn of events, Oher has accused his family of tricking him into signing a document that made them his legal guardians, allowing them to profit off his name.
Does Michael Oher still get along with the Tuohy family?
Mike’s relationship with the Tuohys started to go downhill when he found out he was portrayed as dumb in the movie. Their relationship got worse when he found out he wasn’t getting money from the movie and that he wasn’t adopted.
Oher married Tiffany Roy in November 2022. The couple dated for 17 years after meeting at Ole Miss. Oher and Roy have two biological children and two stepchildren.
Wife’s website says he went to Ole Miss on a basketball scholarship. He led Ole Miss to its first SEC Championship, set records, and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. The New Jersey Nets drafted him in 1982, but he chose to play overseas. Sean and Leigh Anne married in 1982 after dating at Ole Miss. Sean is an entrepreneur who owns and operates several fast-food restaurants.
How much did the Tuohy family earn from Blind Side?
In a statement to PEOPLE on Thursday, Alcon Entertainment co-founders Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove defended the film’s authenticity and said Oher and the Tuohy family were paid about $767,000. The production company that backed The Blind Side is speaking out against “mischaracterizations and uninformed opinions” about the film. This is in response to Michael Oher’s claim that the Tuohy family lied about being adopted. In a statement to PEOPLE on Thursday, Alcon Entertainment co-founders Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove defended the film’s authenticity and said Oher and the Tuohys were paid about $767,000 for The Blind Side. The deal for the Tuohys and Michael Oher’s life rights was typical for the time. It didn’t include big payouts if the film was a hit.
How much money did the Tuohy family make from Blind Side?
The petition said the Tuohys got $225,000 for the film plus 2.5% of the profits. People have misunderstood how much money the Tuohy family made from the film The Blind Side. Sean Tuohy, Leigh Anne Tuohy, and their family received 2.5% of the film’s profits. The film grossed about $309.2 million, but that’s not accurate. ET has learned that the family deal paid them a percentage of net profits. The Tuohys made less than $1 million from the 2009 film based on Michael Lewis’s 2006 book about Michael Oher and the left tackle, or the blind side.
📹 Tuohy family responds to Michael Oher’s ‘Blind Side’ lawsuit
The Tuohy family, made famous by the film “The Blind Side,” call the lawsuit brought by former NFL player Michael Oher “ludicrous …
Air all the facts. He was 18 and didn’t know what “conservatorship” meant, he thought it was an adult word for adopted. If it was suppose to end when he was 25, then why was it not? If this family made ANY money from the movie + future residuals then they need to account for every dollar and give him his portion, he says he was not given anything. Also keep in mind the lawyer (their family friend) played BOTH sides getting him to sign the documents. And lastly if he tells them they no longer have the right to use his name, likeness they should respect that.
They never needed his money, but they get all the fame and speaking gigs and book selling thanks to his story and in their version of the story they made him looks intelligently challenged and hopeless until they came and save him and open a way for him, when instead he already tried to to carve his path to have a better life. He knew how to play football and already showed signs of a great player.
The things that standout: –In the movie itself, which came out prior to Michael Oher’s book, Leigh Anne Touhy (played by Sandra Bullock) talks of “adopting” the then 18 year old Michael Oher. One would think the Tuohys would have made sure the screenwriters preserved the term “conservatorship” as opposed to “adoption” in the movie, given the explanations they are now offering as to why they “couldn’t adopt” Michael. –A book by Michael, himself, allegedly makes a reference(s) to “conservatorship.” The one instance cited notes: Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my “legal conservator”…Honestly, I didn’t care what it was called…We were a family This line in of itself simply tells us that Michael knew of the word “conservator” but doesn’t necessarily say to what extent he understood the meaning of the word. It may well be the case that he was under the impression that it was another word for adoption, as perhaps suggested by his indifference to the word — noting, “I didn’t care what it was called.” –The Tuohys claim that they went with the conservatorship since they “couldn’t adopt” Michael because he was over 18. Legal analysts on TV have disputed the legal premise of this reasoning. –According to reports, Sean Tuohy was quoted saying, “We didn’t make any money off the movie.” “We were never offered money; we never asked for money.” It is hard to believe that a major movie would be made using a story of the Tuohys and Michael Oher without their permissions; even harder to believe, is the idea that the Tuohys “didn’t make any money off the movie.
There are different ways that people protect and care for others. If Oher had millions of dollars coming in, the Tuohy family most-likely wanted to protect Michael from mishandling that kind of money. I don’t know what happens behind the scenes but if Oher really got every penny, then it was a way to introduce him to an upper class lifestyle at titrated levels. We see how the athletes start making loads of money then blow it. The Tuohy family have been so kind on social media. I highly doubt they would just take in a huge man into their home and be like “let’s make money off of him”… there was just way too much risk with that. I truly feel they genuinely love him and wanted to manage his finances just like any other parent would! We shall see what the rest of the story is.
According to everything I’ve seen & read to date it looks like it will turn out to be nothing but a big misunderstanding. Most likely it is being fueled by managers &/or lawyers on Michaels side who see this as a chance to make some big money I hope it all works out & they are able to find their way back to each. There’s a lot of love between them. It would be sad for that bond to be destroyed forever
I hope this is a misunderstanding!!! But if it is true, I want my blockbuster rental fee back plus the late fee. Justice for me first, then this guy if he was cheated. Or vice versa if he will be the one to give me the refund. Really want him to be mistaken since the family seemed like their love towards him was legit and they helped him to be successful. I bet they are beyond hurt to be accused of such things if they did truly help him from the soul without strings attached. I remember my brother not believing the movie and I disowned him for being racist and not believing the story. I am willing to admit it publicly but not ready to humble myself and tell him. Trying to wait this out and see what happens. Its possible I can still pull this off and be right, which is important to me. Plus he owes me 23$ from last week, so therefore I feel this makes us even and no need to say anything just yet. 👍🏿🤷🏿♀️
Even leeches know when it’s time to pack it in. Shady moneylenders prey upon the credulity and inexperience of people they lend money too, this family is the flip side of that coin, they preyed upon a young man who only wanted to be part of their family. What’s really horrible, the Tuohy Mom & Dad schemed this up from the very beginning by setting it up as a conservatorship instead of an adoption. From “The Blind Side” to blindsighted, how a well off family proved the axiom, greed has no conscience.
This is incredibly sad. If the family was sincere I hope they can all find their way back to each other. But he said he found out something in February of this year that changed the way he saw what happened. Knowing what that is will go a long way in trying to figure out what really happened. I don’t see how he could be making these claims without proof since all of this stuff seems like it could be easily documented. My jury is still out.
It’s funny how people are so quick to judge yet this family helped and played a massive part to get him to where he is now. Answer me, if this family didn’t pick him up would he be the same now? Would anyone even care about him? No so why now?. With the money on the movie, after all the family got him he sued the family for the money on the story? He would’ve been dead if the family wasn’t there. He needs to stop listening to the outside voices..esp the black people talking about what this family did was not fair..please. Just mind your own business
Adult Adoption is Absolutely Legal in Tennessee, the conservatorship was definitely a means of control, and the fact that a judge had to end it, almost 20 years later, is a huge red flag, and why didn’t they end the conservatorship after he got out of college? According to the law in Tennesse “only the sworn, written consent of the person sought to be adopted shall be required and no order of reference or any home studies need be issued.” Which is more than likely what Oher thought he was signing. How that conservatorship even got granted as Oher was over 18 with no physical or mental impairment…is a HUGE miscarriage of justice. and they say “they will never oppose that (ending his conservatorship)” Then whey did a judge have to end it, a month later?
You have to think about it on his side.. if you’re really truly part of the family why wouldn’t they adopt him.. just sit there and think this is my family the whole time and then to sit there and look and see that hey I’m not even truly their son that’s really sad…. I don’t understand if they loved him so much why wouldn’t they put it down on paperwork that this was truly their son… if u look at all the articles of children being adopted and how thrilled they are … Then you’ll kinda understand to have that is so important .. I’m sure he appreciated their help or whatever.. and I’m sure that he has feelings for them to and that he loves them perhaps they can sit down and talk about it together… better to talk it out… I’m sure right now there’s a lot of emotions going on and alot of hurt … But I’m sure on both sides there’s still love … And as far as that lawyer goes …. Who in there right mind don’t know you can adopt at 18 🙄 … I’d like to know what lawyer told them that .. it doesn’t even make sense … and if it’s his life story then he should get all the $ … Sad thing is he didn’t like the movie … Why wouldnt he have a say so in his own life movie .. exp if it’s his life that’s being exposed … 😢
They couldn’t adopt him due to his age so they became his conservator till he could manage his own money. Once he started managing his money he was either suspicious that the family kept money from him or he’s run out now and needs to find a way to get more. I don’t see any other reason for the actions that he’s taking now. The only other explanation is that he feels embarrassed about the movie portraying him as someone that’s not very academic and wants someone to hold accountability for making him look bad. Doesn’t seem like any of these narratives justifies suing the family that helped him!
What an ungrateful man, Michael Oher. What would he have been without their love and support? Oher’s mother was a drug addict, he was obese, homeless, could not do basic math, and was not getting an education. He was sleeping outside, ate junk food, had no love or family. When LeAnn Tuohy saw him do you think she envisaged a football genius and the money he would make? Or do you think she saw a scared, hungry, homeless kid and gave him shelter and love? What does your common sense tell you? She did it because she is a morally upright person and did the right thing. She brought into her home, a complete stranger, a big guy, who needed oversized clothes, and risked the safety of her family, exposing her children to this stranger. He ate at their table, their food, wore their clothes, slept in their bed. All his needs were taken care of. They got him tutors and made sure his grades were up. They enrolled him in sports and that became a lucrative career path for him. He made millions in sports. Did he give his money to them to pay them back for their kindness? No. Instead he sues them because someone made a film about the family and OMG, they got some money out of it. Wow! So he sues them for a share of that money. Never mind that they never expected to be paid back for their kindness in adopting him into their home. Never mind that the other two kids don’t have a net worth of $22 million like him. He has assets worth $22 million and he sues his adoptive family for money? What do you call that?
TN allows adoption for adults and those over 18. What lawyers gave them that legal advice? Given a conservatorship grants no parental rights, how on earth would it play into Oher’s NCAA eligibility? Also why on earth would they keep a conservatorship of someone from age 18 – 37? I bet they don’t have a conservatorship over any of their biological kids. This family is shady AF.
It doesn’t make sense to adopt an adult at 18. It doesn’t make sense to conserve an adult at age 18 unless he is declared mentally incompetent. If the parents feel he owes them for expenses for the years they cared for him as a minor from 16-18 then at least state your price so I can know how much I owe my parents 🤪🤔
“This was their son” I love that comment. Yes he was your son that you made loads of money off which is why your son is now suing you for. I don’t know why the parents didn’t release him from censorship when he finished college. Oh and please do not hate on Sandra Bullock it’s not her fault but I must admit she played her part well in the movie. 🙂
why publish a new book and tell the same story all over again in a different way with the exception of a few things added in but nothing big..kinda like harry & meghan having books published, podcasts and series on Netflix they tellin the same story in a different way…nothin we ain’t already heard only worded differently but if you have a lawsuit filed the book will sell better just to see if and what all he did say in it and also right now a lot of people is rewatching The Blind Side just to see what was said and what took place on the Legal Guardianship/Conservatorship because that what was said in the movie and thats what he said in the last book before he wrote this one and also he could have a long time ago requested to terminate them as his Conservators but he didn’t and it’s not like he has tried before and they were refusing him
It’s a great thank you from Oher. The guy would have ended god knows where if not for this family. They took him in. Treated him with great honor and guided his way. I have seen it all on film. So it must be true. What a world. Let him enjoy the couple of bucks he has left from playing that silly sport. Or he is totally broke? I guess.
Too many blindsiding going on here. Michael was allegedly blindsided by what the Tuohys were “really” doing to him under the pretext of a “conservatorship,” and, in hindsight, it looks like the Tuohys may have been blindsided by what lay ahead, (lawsuits and public humiliation) as a result of their actions (to be confirmed in a court of law).
Can’t live with them or work with them a lot of families this is sad because it just is I think Oher probably spent all his football money trying to get some back when them ppl probably give you 15 Million instead of trying sue Don’t forget them ppl took u into their home and raised you when ur biological mother didn’t want no parts of u
So forget the feel-good movie. In real life, Micheal was already an up and coming football player and the Tuohy’s, “wanted him to be part of the family,” but for some reason instead of adopting him, which adult adoptions happen all the time, they chose to be his conservators and manage his potential future income 🤔 and then on top of all that, didnt give him any money from a movie about HIS life? They can try to spin this all they want and have their lawyer try to change the narrative, but if these are the facts, like they seem to be…that’s next level messed up.
He has destroyed his own brand with this. It’s clear he’s doing this out of greed. He spent all his NFL money and now he’s suing to try and get some from them. His own book makes him out to be a liar. Whoever got in his ear has cost him dearly. He could make a lot of money given his life story (til now) and the fame it brought. He could make quite a bit just giving speeches. Now he’s hurting his brand and that’s going to dry up fast. So he’ll be out attorney fees, he’s going to lose as it seems obvious he’s full of it and they didn’t make enough even if he won to make it worth it. Thank your buddies or wife or whoever convinced you this was a good idea. You just clowned yourself out of millions.
Last night I was perusal a article about this and it said that all 4 of the family members were paid for the movie, but Michael was not. I realized that I assumed, like many others, that the movie is about Micheal’s life. But it isn’t. It’s about the Touhy’s family. Specifically the mother. It’s just another white savior movie.