A year after The Blind Side subject Michael Oher sued Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the former NFLer has spoken out about his lawsuit accusing the wealthy couple of exploiting him for millions.
Oher, whose life serves as inspiration for the Sandra Bullock-led film, sued the Tuohys in August 2023. He accused the couple of using his name for financial gain, and he also claimed they lied by having him sign papers making them his conservators rather than his adoptive parents nearly two decades ago.
The conservatorship has already been terminated as a result of the lawsuit.
In a new interview with New York Times Magazine, Oher said the public’s perception of him has been negatively impacted by The Blind Side movie. The film, which was released in 2009 as he was beginning his NFL career with the Baltimore Ravens, led many to question his intelligence, Oher said.
“The NFL people were wondering if I could read a playbook,” he recalled.
Oher maintains the popularity of the film — and its portrayal of Oher as quiet and simple-minded — cost him a higher draft position with more pay.
“I started seeing stuff that I’m dumb. I’m stupid,” Oher said of the public reaction to the film. “Every article about me mentioned The Blind Side, like it was part of my name.”
Oher fretted this perception of his intelligence would affect his children.
“If my kids can’t do something in class, will their teacher think their dad is dumb? Is that why they’re not getting it?”
In his lawsuit, Oher said the Tuohys earned about US$8 million (C$10.9 million) by using his name and likeness to promote speaking engagements and other events. He told the court Sean and Leigh Anne were able to obtain millions by telling the public they adopted Oher, which is not true.
“The first time I heard ‘I love you,’ it was Sean and Leigh Anne saying it,” Oher recalled. “When that happens at 18, you become vulnerable. You let your guard down and then you get everything stripped from you. It turns into a hurt feeling.”
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Oher continued: “I don’t want to make this about race, but what I found out was that nobody says ‘I love you’ more than coaches and white people. When Black people say it, they mean it.”
The Tuohys have said they never intended to adopt Oher and only meant that he was their adopted son “in a colloquial sense.”
They have accused Oher of executing a “shakedown” to extort them for US$15 million (over CAD$20.4 million). Sean and Leigh Anne said Oher earlier threatened to ruin their public image if they did not send him money.
In a statement to New York Times Magazine, a spokesperson for Sean and Leigh Anne said Oher’s lawsuit is fraught with “outlandish claims.”
“The idea that the Tuohys have ever sought to profit off Mr. Oher is not only offensive, it is transparently ridiculous,” the spokesperson said.
The Tuohys, both in reality and in The Blind Side, helped Oher obtain his driver’s licence, buy a car and arranged tutoring to make him eligible to play college football. Prior to living with the Tuohy family at age 18, Oher lived in foster care, shelters and was at times unhoused.
Even amid the lawsuit, Oher called his time living with the Tuohys “great” and said he had a “bed to stay on” while also “eating good.”
While living under their roof, the Tuohys petitioned for a conservatorship over Oher, which they were permitted by the courts. Though Tennessee law requires a conservatorship be granted because of physical or psychological disabilities, the Tuohys said Oher had none.
Tennessee Probate Court judge Kathleen Gomes eliminated the conservatorship last year but told the court she has never seen a conservatorship for someone who is not disabled. The Tuohys did not object to the dissolution.
Oher was paid US$138,000 (about C$188,000) for The Blind Side movie. According to court documents filed by the Tuohys, this was his share after the sum was split evenly five ways between Oher, Sean, Leigh Anne and their two children.
The Blind Side was released in 2009. The film would go on to be nominated for best picture at the Oscars and would earn an Acadamy Award trophy for Bullock’s performance as Leigh Anne.
Oher said his past, his personality and his legacy were already “defined” by The Blind Side film, even as he was just beginning his NFL career in 2009 — a “heartbreak” made worse by the film’s inaccuracies, he said.
He has maintained he did not file a lawsuit against Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy because he needs the funds.
“I’ve got millions of dollars,” Oher said. “I’m fine.”
The lawsuit is ongoing.
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