Michael Oher of ‘The Blind Side’ says the heartwarming story of his ‘adoption’ is a lie

In 2009, millennial parents everywhere fell in love with “The Blind Side,” a moving story based on real events, in which a young Michael Oher was adopted by sports-loving Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy. But, this week, Michael Oher himself filed a petition claiming that the entire thing was a hoax, and that the Tuohy family tricked him into a conservatorship. This meant that the family could allegedly benefit from the millions made using his name and likeness in the movie, for which he wouldn’t get anything.

An ESPN article explains that less than three months after Oher’s 18th birthday, the Tuohy’s “tricked” him into signing a document making them his conservators, giving them legal rights to make business deals in his name. The petition further suggests that they then used this power to earn from than $300 million for themselves, including their own biological children, leaving him with none of the royalties from “The Blind Side,” which became a massively popular Oscar-winning movie.

The family helped Oher turn his life around from a poverty-stricken situation, to eventually play for multiple NFL teams, including eight seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, where he even won a Superbowl. But, the movie itself even has scenes detailing officials doubting that the family’s intentions were pure. In an article published by the Daily Memphian Aug. 14, the patriarch of the Tuohy family, Sean, responded, saying he was “stunned” by the allegations. “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.”

Sandra Bullock, who played Leigh Anne Tuohy, struck a chord with “mamas” everywhere, as she came to be called by all of her children, adopted and biological, as a tough but soft-hearted parent who took him shopping, ventured into tough neighborhoods to have a heart to heart with his birth mother, and more. Now, Oher asserts that he was never actually adopted, and that this legal arrangement was made in spite of the fact that he had “no diagnosed physical or psychological disabilities” that would warrant a conservatorship.

Oher didn’t discover that he gave his rights away until February of this year, the LA Times reports, much to his “chagrin and embarrassment” according to his lawyer. However, the Tuohy’s denied making money off the movie, instead saying they only shared proceeds from Michael Lewis’ book, which was the basis for the film. 

The Tuohy’s are expected to make a legal statement in the next few weeks in response to the petition, which wants to end the conservatorship and bar them from using his name anymore. It also seeks to have the couple pay him a share of the profits, ESPN reports, in addition to damages. 

In addition to the potential for financial corruption, his lawyer points to deep pain caused by the fact that he wasn’t actually adopted after all — “Mike didn’t grow up with a stable family life…when the Tuohy family told Mike they loved him and wanted to adopt him, it filled a void that had been with him his entire life. Discovering that he wasn’t actually adopted devastated Mike and wounded him deeply.” He even has said that the movie’s “inaccurate portrayal” of his life bothered him for years, but that the overall inspirational message was worth keeping quiet about that, until now.

In his recently released book, he sums it up: “Beyond the details of the deal, the politics, and the money behind the book and movie, it was the principle of the choices some people made that cut me the deepest.”

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