Inside Michael Oher’s crumbling relationship with Blind Side family – and his fury over movie’s impact on his life and career… as NFL star accuses Tuohys of LYING about adopting him and making millions off his fame
- The Tuohy family were made famous by the 2009 Oscar-winning film
- Oher, 37, has been vocal about inauthentic changes made to his life story
- Retired NFL veteran filed a petition against the Tuohy family on Monday
Former NFL star Michael Oher has made no secret of the fact he had many issues with the acclaimed 2009 film, The Blind Side, which his own personal story – and that of his so-called adoptive family – inspired.
Now the retired athlete has made a revelation which would indicate the entire Sandra Bullick-led movie is based on a lie, shocking fans with claims that he is not actually the adopted son of Sean and Leigh Anne Touhy as the movie portrays.
In yet another unexpected twist regarding Oher and the Touhy family, the 37-year-old has alleged in a sensational legal filing against his family that he was tricked into signing a document which made them conservators – not his adoptive parents – allowing them to profit off his name.
But while fans of the hit movie were left reeling by the accusations, this is not the first time that Oher has shared his distaste over the hit film – and the changes that were made to his life story in order to create the perfect Hollywood script.
Inaccurate: Michael Oher has been vocal about his issues with the Blind Side movie, which helped Sean and Leigh-Anne Tuohy find global fame
Faked fairytale: Michael claims that he is not actually the adopted son of Sean and Leigh Anne Touhy – like the movie portrays
The sport star made it clear that elements of his childhood and his character had been changed in a inauthentic ways to make the story more entertaining – with no real regard for how it might have impacted his life.
Oher was born to a drug addict mother and a convict father in Tennessee in 1986, and spent a troubled childhood in and out of school where he had to repeat both the first and second grade.
The Blind Side movie told the story of how Michael met Leigh Anne Tuohy and the rest of his ‘adoptive family’ as a teen, with the family helping to ‘nurture his love of football’ which eventually saw him go to the University of Mississippi on scholarship.
In 2004, while Oher was aged 18, he signed on to a petition which made them his conservators – and in other words, able to legally act upon business interests in his name.
Michael has alleges in a new lawsuit that the conservatorship enabled the Tuohy family to strike a deal wherein they – inclusive of their two children – would receive royalties from the heartwarming movie. The athlete claims that he has not received a cent from the motion picture.
ESPN was first to report that Oher filed a 14-page petition in Shelby County, Tennessee Monday alleging the centrality of the movie was a lie and the Tuohy family used him as a means of acquiring further wealth.
According to the Daily Memphian, Sean Tuohy responded to Oher’s allegations saying; ‘We are going to keep loving Michael.’
Here, DailyMail.com looks back at everything Michael Oher has said about his issues with the family’s movie, and the way it has had a negative impact on his life.
Telling his side of the story in his 2011 memoir, I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to the Blind Side and Beyond
Better in real life: The sport star made it clear that elements of his childhood and his character had been changed in inauthentic ways
Hit movie: The Blind Side movie told the story of how Michael met Leigh Anne Tuohy and the rest of his ‘adoptive family’ as a teen, with the family helping to ‘nurture his love of football’
Michael shared his true traction to the film in his 2011 book, I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to the Blind Side and Beyond.
He stated that he had been far more social and extroverted that he had appeared in the movie, and was much more competent with his school work.
‘I felt like it portrayed me as dumb, instead of as a kid who had never had consistent academic instruction and ended up thriving once he got it.’
He also took issue with the fact he was shown with less athletic ability and knowledge than he actually had as a teen – citing that he had already been playing three sports by the time the Tuohy family took him in.
Indeed, his supposed lack of athletic knowledge was a focal point of The Blind Side, as S.J. and Leigh Anne tried to teach him football.
According to NPR, he wrote: ‘Quinton Aaron did a great job acting the part but I could not figure out why the director chose to show me as someone who had to be taught the game of football.
‘Whether it was S.J. moving around ketchup bottles or Leigh Anne explaining to me what blocking is about, I watched those scene thinking, “No, that’s not me at all! I’ve been studying – really studying – the game since I was a kid!” That was my main hang-up with the film.’
In the book, he also made a comment about the fact the Tuohys told him that signing to make them his conservators was ‘the same thing as adoption’.
He stated: ‘They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing at “adoptive parents,” but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account’.
Michael takes a swipe at the movie before winning the Super Bowl in 2012 – and reveals it’s negative effect on his football career
Speaking out: During a press conference ahead of the 2012, he made it clear he wasn’t a fan of the film and told press: ‘I’m tired of the movie. I’m here to play football’ – pictured in 2023
Michael enjoyed Super Bowl success in 2012 while playing as right tackle for the Baltimore Ravens – and the Tuohys were there to celebrate with him
Michael enjoyed Super Bowl success in 2012 while playing as right tackle for the Baltimore Ravens.
However, the moment started to get overlooked due to the popularity of the movie.
During a press conference ahead of the game, he made it clear he wasn’t a fan as he told press: ‘I’m tired of the movie. I’m here to play football.’
Then in 2015, the Carolina Panthers left tackle revealed how he felt the movie has caused a negative impact on his legacy as a football player.
Speaking to ESPN, he said: ‘I’m not trying to prove anything. People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie.
‘They don’t really see the skills and the kind of player I am. That’s why I get downgraded so much, because of something off the field.’
He continued: ‘This stuff, calling me a bust, people saying if I can play or not … that has nothing to do with football. It’s something else off the field. That’s why I don’t like that movie.
‘That’s taken away from my football. That’s why people criticize me. That’s why people look at me every single play.’
The now-retired offensive lineman went on to say that players in his position are often overlooked, but because of the movie he is constantly being judged.
‘Nobody is paying attention to the offensive line. But me? I’m getting watched for everything. I know what type of player I am. Everybody else that I know knows what type of player I am. So that kind of stuff doesn’t worry me,’ Michael stated.
Michael appears to pull back from the Tuohy family by failing to post about them on social media – or even invite them to his wedding
Rare sighting: The star currently does not follow any member of the Tuohy family on Instagram, while he also doesn’t have a single post of them on his Instagram page
Distance: Michael even appeared to tie the knot with his longtime partner, Tifanny Roy, in a Nashville ceremony that did not appear to have the Tuohy family in attendance
Michael Oher’s distance from the Tuohy family has been clear to see for years, thanks to his social media.
The star currently does not follow any member of the family on Instagram, while he also doesn’t have a single post of them on his page.
Michael even appeared to tie the knot with his longtime partner, Tifanny Roy, in a Nashville ceremony that did not appear to have the Tuohy family in attendance.
The athlete shares four children with his wife; sons Kobi and MJ and daughters Kierstin and Naivi.
The Blind Side movie told the story of how Michael met Leigh Anne Tuohy and the rest of his ‘adoptive family’ as a teen, with the family helping to ‘nurture his love of football’ which eventually saw him go to the University of Mississippi on scholarship.
He went on to become a first-round NFL draft pick in 2009 and spent five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens from 2009-2013.
Michael then joined the Tennessee Titans in 2014, before eventually playing for the Carolina Panthers from 2015 to 2016.
Based on a book by journalist Michael Lewis, who is a friend of Sean Tuohy, the film grossed $309million.
His own family: Michael Oher’s distance from the Tuohy family has been clear to see for years, thanks to his social media
Legal battle: Now Michael is seeking ‘a full accounting’ of money earned by the family as a result of him
Now Michael is seeking ‘a full accounting’ of money earned by the family as a result of 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,’ per the legal filing obtained 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.’
The sport star has also asked for there to be an end to the conservatorship, in addition to an injunction which would halt them from using his name and likeness.
Oher rips The Blind Side but admits he’s ‘grateful for the Tuohys’ in interview before legal petition against the family
In an interview conducted just before his legal filing was made public, Oher actually voiced his appreciate for the Tuohys allowing him to live with them during his senior year
In an interview conducted just days before the stunning announcement of his legal petition against the Tuohys, Oher railed against The Blind Side and the brutal impact that he says it had on his career and life.
‘Through help to this day right here, my circle is getting me back to who I was and still healing prior to when all these stories were created,’ Oher during a chat with Marshall Ramsey on Mississippi Public Broadcasting to promote his upcoming book, When Your Back’s Against the Wall.
‘The personality, just everything you get it taken away from it and things that are out of control. You just continue to fight and eventually get back on course.’
Interestingly, Oher actually spoke of his continued appreciate for the Tuohys, although he called out another misnomer that he says appeared in the movie adaptation of The Blind Side, which was based on a book by the same name, written by Michael Lewis.
‘Whatever you see in the movie or books you’ve have to understand what it took for me be this 18-year-old kid when this story took shape,’ he explained.
‘And the things I went through and had to do to go through to that point I went through from three years old to 18 when I moved in with the Tuohy family – who I’m grateful for letting me stay my senior year there.
‘But you have to understand, I was an All-American football player before I moved in with them, you have to understand what it took for me to get to that point.’
Oher has previously suggested the stories surrounding his life were detrimental to his football career.
The 37-year-old also alluded to his accomplishments being trivialized during the interview, hinting that his ‘hard work’ was not always acknowledged because of the movie’s success.
‘From that point prior you get everything taken away from you, the hard work. That’s what I want to let people know, you can get things done,’ he continued.
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