Michael Oher, Former NFL Tackle Known For ‘The Blind Side,’ Sues To End Tuohys’ Conservatorship

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In a petition submitted on Monday to a Tennessee probate court, Michael Oher, a former NFL tackle who served as the model for the film “The Blind Side,” accused Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of deceiving him by getting him to sign documents nearly two decades ago designating them as his conservators rather than his adoptive parents.

Other requests are the end of the conservatorship and a complete accounting of the money made from using his name and tale in the petition submitted Monday to the Shelby County Probate Court. In addition, he demands interest to be added to the amount owed to him.

He claims that the Tuohys have been profiting themselves at his cost by continuing to “falsely and publicly” identify as his adoptive parents “to the date of the filing of this petition.”

“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 with no familial relationship with the Tuohys,” according to the petition.

The petition also requests that the Tuohys be penalized and ordered to pay compensatory and punitive damages as determined by the court on behalf of Oher, who has never been a fan of the movie based on his life.

Michael Oher, a former NFL tackle who served as the model for the film “The Blind Side,” accused Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of deceiving him.

The Tuohys’ attorney, Steve Farese, told the Associated Press that they would respond to the accusations in court but would not provide any additional information. He was one of three lawyers who served on Monday on behalf of the Tuohys.

Leigh, An email received via Anne Tuohy’s website has not been responded to promptly. As Oher considered Tuohy’s alma mater Mississippi for college, her husband claimed to The Daily Memphian that the conservatorship was completed to appease the NCAA.

Sean Tuohy stated that if Oher wants to dissolve the conservatorship, he and his wife will do so.

“We’re devastated,” Tuohy declared. “It makes me sad to think we would sell any of our kids for money. However, we will continue to adore Michael as much at 37 as we did at 16.

Leigh Anne Tuohy was played by Sandra Bullock, who won the Academy Award for best actress in a motion picture.

Oher claims that the Tuohys never filed a custody claim with the Tennessee Department of Human Services before he became 18. Oher turned 18 in May 2004; the conservatorship application was submitted a few months later.

Michael Oher, a former NFL tackle who served as the model for the film “The Blind Side,” accused Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of deceiving him.

Just before his senior year of high school, he moved in with the Tuohys, and he claims he was instructed to address them as “Mom” and “Dad.” Other claims in the petition that “Aunt Debbie” Branan, the lawyer who filed the conservatorship paperwork, pushed him to do so.

Oher further claims that the Tuohys made him sign documents immediately after moving in as part of the adoption process. Oher claims that because he was already 18, he was “falsely advised” that it would be called a conservatorship while the intention was adoption.

The petition states that because the Tuohys never made it clear to Michael that they would have the final say over his contracts, “Michael did not understand that, if the Conservatorship was granted, he was signing away his right to contract for himself.”

In September 2006, a book based on Oher’s life was published. Sean Tuohy’s childhood friend, Michael Lewis, was identified in the petition as the author. The petition claims that Oher’s conservators have started contract talks for the movie rights.

According to the petition, an agreement was reached to pay the Tuohy family, along with their children Collins and Sean Jr., $225,000 plus 2.5% of any future defined net proceeds, subject to Oher’s approval. According to the petition, a contract with the title “Life Story Rights Agreement” and the date April 20, 2007, was “purportedly signed by Michael Oher”.

Oher feels the signature is similar to his own, but the petition claims that “nobody ever presented this contract to him with any explanation that he was signing such a document” and that Oher “at no time ever willingly or knowingly signed this document.”

Michael Oher, a former NFL tackle who served as the model for the film “The Blind Side,” accused Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of deceiving him.

Given that his life narrative generated millions of dollars and he received nothing for the rights to something that would not have been without him, Oher requests in the petition a comprehensive accounting of his assets and how they were used.

Oher, who was selected by the Baltimore Ravens with the 23rd overall choice in the 2009 draughts out of Mississippi, played for them for his first five seasons. He participated in eight NFL seasons, with the 2014 campaign featuring 11 starts for the Tennessee Titans. Oher spent the final two years of his career in Carolina.

He made 110 starts for games and helped the Ravens win a Super Bowl. After starting all 16 games at right tackle in his first season, he came in second in the voting for The Associated Press NFL Offensive First of the Year behind Minnesota’s Percy Harvin.

Oher last played in 2016, and he turned 37 in May. Carolina released him in 2017.

Supporters celebrated when Britney Spears was released from her conservatorship almost two years ago. The judgment was made after Spears publicly asked that the arrangement stop because it had hindered her from 2008 making her own personal, financial, and medical decisions.

Due to Spears’ high-profile conflict, advocates across the US have raised concerns about whether such stringent regulations do more harm than good.

SOURCE- (AP)