Michael Oher Says 'The Blind Side' Adoption Story Was a Lie
Audiences around the world have been inspired by the story of Michael Oher, whose life was dramatized in a book and later in the 2009 Oscar-nominated hit The Blind Side. Since the movie's release, the former NFL star has spoken about certain creative liberties taken in the film that didn't match his real-life experience. Now, he alleges that his entire adoption—a central part of the story—wasn't even an adoption at all.
Oher just filed a petition in a Tennessee probate court alleging that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy—who took in Oher when he was in high school—never actually adopted him. Instead, it was a sort of business arrangement, as Oher alleges that three months after he turned 18 in 2004, the couple tricked him into signing a document that made them his conservators, thus giving them legal authority to make business deals in his name. He was entering his senior year of high school at the time.
The ex-Baltimore Ravens player recounted the experience in his 2011 bestselling memoir I Beat the Odds. "They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as 'adoptive parents,' but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account," he wrote, per Yahoo! Sports.
Related: 15 Best Football Movies of All Time, Ranked
According to the new court filing, Oher's conservatorship arrangement ended up paying the Tuohys and their two birth children millions of dollars in royalties from the critically acclaimed film, which brought in more than $300 million at the box office. Oher, meanwhile, didn't get a dime for it, despite the fact that it "would not have existed without him."
"The lie of Michael's adoption is one upon which co-conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their ward, the undersigned Michael Oher," the legal filing said, as reported by ESPN. "Michael 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 no familial relationship with the Tuohys."
"Since at least August of 2004, conservators have allowed Michael, specifically, and the public, generally, to believe that conservators adopted Michael and have used that untruth to gain financial advantages for themselves and the foundations which they own or which they exercise control," the petition continued. "All monies made in said manner should in all conscience and equity be disgorged and paid over to the said ward, Michael Oher."
Oher is asking the court to end the Tuohys' conservatorship and to issue an injunction barring the couple from using his name and likeness in the future. He's also seeking payment for all the money the Tuohys have earned using his name as well as his fair share of the profits from the past decade of The Blind Side's success.
In his book When Your Back's Against the Wall, released earlier this month, the Super Bowl champ expanded on his issues with the Oscar-winning film. His on-screen portrayal continues to hurt him to this day.
"There has been so much created from The Blind Side that I am grateful for, which is why you might find it as a shock that the experience surrounding the story has also been a large source of some of my deepest hurt and pain over the past 14 years," Oher wrote. "Beyond the details of the deal, the politics, and the money behind the book and movie, it was the principle of the choices some people made that cut me the deepest."
Conservatorships are notoriously difficult arrangements to terminate, though high-profile victories like Britney Spears' in 2021 serve as a beacon of hope for Oher. The Tuohys, for their part, have yet to respond to the court filing.