Former NFL OT blindsided by supposed adoptive parents

Michael Lewis wrote "The Blind Side" about an impoverished young Black man named Michael Oher, who went to live with Lewis' schoolmate Sean Tuohy and his wife, Leigh Anne Tuohy, and their family after growing up in great poverty. Eventually, Oher gets academically eligible for college and goes to play on the offensive line at Tuohy's alma mater, Ole Miss. Oher then became a first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens, winning a Super Bowl, and Bullock won Best Actress for the film adaptation.

Now Oher has petitioned a court in Tennessee to remove a conservatorship with the Tuohys that he signed as a rising high school senior. Oher's petition alleges he thought this would make him a legal member of the Tuohy family, but instead, the conservatorship gave Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy control over his financial affairs and the ability to make business deals on his behalf.

It's similar to the controversial conservatorship that Britney Spears was placed under for 13 years — only Oher has no physical, psychological or cognitive issues that would usually lead to such a thing.

The legal filing alleges the Tuohy family profited off the false story that he was adopted. 

"Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023," the filing reads. "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."

According to the filing, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, as well as their two biological children, each received $225K, plus 2.5 percent of the film's "defined net proceeds." 

Since the movie grossed more than $300M in theaters worldwide, against a $29M budget, those proceeds are likely quite large.

Meanwhile, Oher's petition alleges that he signed away his life rights to 20th Century Fox "without any payment whatsoever," a contract Oher doesn't remember signing. While all of the Tuohys had the same agent at the powerful Creative Arts Agency, Oher was represented by a Tuohy family friend, Debbie Branan.

Oher also doesn't think the portrayal of his story was accurate.

"I think the biggest is being portrayed as not being able to read or write," Oher said. "When you go into a locker room and your teammates don't think you can read a playbook, that weighs heavy."

The story puts into question the veracity of the film's story and the supposed good intentions of the Tuohy family. Sean Tuohy told the Daily Memphian, "It's upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children," but perhaps that's because, legally, Oher isn't one of his children.

Why would the Tuohys do a conservatorship, rather than legally adopt Oher, if not to take advantage of him financially? No wonder he feels blindsided.