In mid August, Micheal Oher, the inspiration of the movie and book The Blind Side, claimed the Tuohy family misled him into believing he was signing adoption papers. But, Oher was actually getting placed into a conservatorship.
The book and film The Blind Side, follows the story of a family who takes in a homeless child, and supports him through his college football career that leads him to the NFL. This story soon gained a lot of media attention, and became an Oscar-Winning film.
At the age of eleven, Oher became homeless, and a friend’s father aided him into his enrollment at Briarcrest Christian School, where he played basketball and football. Families of classmates allowed him to stay at their houses, where he stumbled upon the Tuohy residence.
Oher claims that when he turned eighteen, the Tuohy family offered him a permanent place to stay. The petition claims that instead of helping Micheal out of the kindness of their hearts, the Tuohy family saw an opportunity to exploit a young man’s athletic talent for their own benefit.
While believing he was signing adoption papers, Oher learned months later that he signed a conservatorship because it was “a part of the adoption process,” and because Micheal was no longer a minor, the adoption paperwork was titled as a conservatorship, the petition said.
When the Tuohy’s signed a deal with 20th Century Fox to make the film, this left Oher without payment for rights to his life story, likeness, and his name. In this contract, the Tuohy family was set to receive 2.5 % of the net proceeds and over a quarter of a million dollars upon signing.
Oher’s petition is attempting to terminate the conservatorship in Tennessee at the Shelby County Court. He claims to not remember signing the agreement to rights to his story.
“Nobody ever presented this document to him with any explanation,” according to NBC News.
Oher is demanding in court that the conservatorship end, and the Tuohys repay Micheal the money that was made off of his name, and his story.
The Tuohy’s claimed in a statement that Oher was always in the know about the conservatorship, and that all profits made were split equally between them. The couple claimed that Oher had attempted to file these claims before, but he was unable to find a lawyer to represent him.
The Tuohys at tourney has denied to comment, and Micheal is also taking the same stance.
“This is a difficult situation for my family and me. For now, I will let the lawsuit speak for itself and will offer no further comment,” Oher said.
Sadly, the children of the Tuohys are also under pressure for their knowledge and opinions on the situation at hand.
“I was accusatory of my parents to some extent, like I want to make sure I’m not defending the wrong side of this,” SJ Tuohy said to NBC News.
Oher has said before that he was willing to live with the myth that was created by the movie because it is an inspirational message, and is less painful than the true events that happened in his life. But this has obviously changed. In the next months we are forced to wait and see if more information gets released, and if Micheal Oher gets justice for himself and his family.
