This has be one of the biggest scandals of all time!
Former NFL star Michael Oher, who was supposedly adopted by a wealthy, white family, and then the true story (or so we thought) was portrayed in the 2009 hit movie “The Blind Side,” made a petition to a Tennessee court Monday with claims that the film is actually a lie and the family came up with the fib to enrich themselves at his expense.
The news was first reported by ESPN’s Michael A. Fletcher.
Filed in Shelby County probate court, the 14-page petition reportedly slams Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy — who took Oher into their home while he was in high school — with allegations they never actually adopted him. The petition states less than three months following Oher turning 18 in 2004, the Tuohys allegedly tricked him into signing documentation that made them conservators. By signing, Oher allegedly gave the Tuohys legal power to do business deals in the ‘Michael Oher’ name, per Fletcher.
The Tuohys allegedly used their conservatorship power to wheel and deal millions of dollars from “The Blind Side” to both themselves and their two birth children, the petition claims. The Oscar-winning film earned over $300 million in royalties. Oher alleges he received nothing from the film “that would not have existed without him.”
The petition from Oher also requests the court to end the conservatorship and issue an injunction to ban them from using his name and likeness, Fletcher noted. Oher is demanding a full accounting of what the Touhys earned while using his name, and he wants his fair share of the profits. The former NFL star also wants punitive damages and unspecified compensatory.
Former NFL player Michael Oher, subject of “The Blind Side,” petitioned a court Monday with allegations that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never adopted him, instead tricking him into a signing a document making them his conservators and enriching themselves. https://t.co/x5EsGu3IVc
— ESPN (@espn) August 14, 2023
If true, this is such a major disappointment, a major bombshell, a major scandal, all of the above. (RELATED: Peyton Manning Is Returning To The University Of Tennessee As A Professor)
Honestly … I’m heartbroken.