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Everything you need to know about Michael Oher and the “Blind Side” controversy

By Harley Hudson

OXFORD, MS - OCTOBER 04: Michael Oher #74 of the Ole Miss Rebels in action against the South Carolina Gamecocks during their game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 4, 2008 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Matthew Sharpe/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MS - OCTOBER 04: Michael Oher #74 of the Ole Miss Rebels in action against the South Carolina Gamecocks during their game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 4, 2008 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Matthew Sharpe/Getty Images) /
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Former Ole Miss football standout offensive lineman Michael Oher, subject of the blockbuster movie “The Blind Side” has filed a lawsuit against his alleged adoptees Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy after stating the adoption was a lie.

Most people will recognize Michael Oher as the subject of the 2009 film “The Blind Side” which portrays Oher’s life as a teenager living in extreme poverty and details his subsequent adoption by the affluent Tuohy family. The adoption would grant Oher the necessary help to get to college and continue to follow his dreams to the NFL.

Ole Miss fans will remember Oher as a member of the Rebel’s football team from 2005 to 2008, where he quickly became one of the best offensive tackles in the country and would go on to win multiple awards and honors in his time in Oxford.

Following a successful college football career, Oher became a first-round pick for the Baltimore Ravens and put together a seven-year career in the NFL.

It seemed like a true feel-good story that Hollywood movies are made of, but it may have been too good to be true after all. Earlier this week Oher filed a petition to end a conservatorship almost 20 years long with the Tuohy’s, who claimed to have adopted him. Oher stated that he was never legally adopted by the family at all and was misled all along.

Here’s everything we know being said from both sides so far:

  • Oher is claiming the Tuohy’s never legally adopted him and instead misled him into signing a conservatorship, a legal proceeding where a court strips the decision-making abilities from someone who is a minor or has a disability or someone who cannot make decisions on their own, giving that power to a conservator.
  • The Tuohy’s claim that they had Oher sign the conservatorship to allow him to attend Ole Miss, where the Tuohy’s were boosters. “The only way, given the NCAA rules at the time back in 2005, that he could sign with Ole Miss is he became, according to the NCAA, part of the family.” according to a statement from the family.
  • Michael Oher claims he never received any payment from the hit movie about his life and that instead the Tuohy family received all profits.
  • An attorney representing the Tuohy family stated on their behalf that each person, including Oher, was estimated to have made around $100,000 from the film, and that Oher refused to cash his checks, so the Tuohy’s deposited Oher’s share into a trust account for his son.
  • The Tuohy’s claim that Oher’s allegations against them in the petition filed are essentially a “shakedown effort”. Oher allegedly approached the Tuohy’s and asked to be paid $15 million or he would go public with the story of his adoption being fabricated.
  • The family has since stated publicly that they intend to end the conservatorship and have stated that they have not taken any money from Oher.

It’s hard to say if the Tuohy family genuinely acted in Oher’s best interest but one thing is true, the family had wealth outside of any profits made from the movie or book, but they also likely misled him into thinking he was being adopted and had him sign a conservatorship instead.

As the situation continues to unfold and eventually heads to court, hopefully, the truth comes to light for the sake of both parties involved.

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