‘Blind Side’ Subject Claims He Was Cheated Out of Movie Profits

Winston Cho
·6 min read
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Michael Oher, a retired NFL player whose life story was chronicled in The Blind Side, says the family at the center of the movie didn’t adopt him but rather tricked him into signing documents that appointed them as his conservators. Under the conservatorship, Oher has been deprived of the rights to his name, image and likeness on top of millions of dollars the family got for signing away the rights to the book the film is based off of, he claims.

In a petition filed on Monday in Tennessee probate court, Oher accuses Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of running a decades-long scheme in which they took him into their home as a senior in high school when he was already an adult intending to place the athlete under a conservatorship to exploit his story and career. As his conservators, the Tuohys struck a lucrative deal with 20th Century Studios giving them and their two children $225,000 and 2.5 percent of all future net proceeds from the movie, which has grossed over $300 million, while Oher got nothing, according to the filing. The agreement was already in place when Alcon Entertainment, which fully financed the movie, picked up the rights, according to a person familiar with the contract.

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Oher’s petition, which is embedded below, asks the court to terminate the conservatorship and an order requiring the Tuohys to forfeit to him all the money they were paid for using the rights to his name and story. He seeks a full accounting of all records, which allegedly hasn’t been provided to the court, for breaches of fiduciary duty.

In a statement, Oher told People that he was “disheartened” by the revelations in the lawsuit. “This is a difficult situation for my family and me,” he continued. “I want to ask everyone to please respect our privacy at this time. For now, I will let the lawsuit speak for itself and will offer no further comment.”

Oher was among the top football prospects in the country when the Tuohys, a family he occasionally stayed with, invited him to live with them full-time as a senior in high school. He was allegedly presented with legal papers shortly after he moved in that he was told he needed to sign to initiate the adoption process. They were actually documents that gave the family “total control” over his ability to “negotiate for or enter any contract” while the conservatorship is still in place despite having no physical or psychological disabilities. In 2004, a Tennessee judge granted the Tuohy’s petition for the them to be appointed as Oher’s conservators after he found that the athlete was in “need of supervision, protection, and assistance” and that he “should not be able to make contract decisions on his own.” They were named in that capacity until the court terminates the conservatorship. Debbie Branan, a close friend of the family, represented the Tuohys in the proceedings.

“At no point did the Tuohys inform Michael that they would have ultimate control of all his contracts, and as a result Michael did not understand that if the Conservatorship was granted, he was signing away his right to contract for himself,” states the filing. “Michael was falsely advised by the Tuohys that because he was over the age of eighteen, that the legal action to adopt Michael would have to be called a ‘conservatorship’ but it was, for all intents and purposes, an adoption.”

Under the conservatorship, Oher lost the ability to handle his own financial and legal affairs, which he would’ve kept had he been adopted.

In 2006, a book based on Oher called The Blind Side: Evolution of the Game was published. Shortly after, the Tuohys allegedly began contract negotiations with 20th Century Studios regarding their personal rights to a movie adaptation of the book, according to the petition. They allegedly secured $225,000 on top of 2.5 percent of all future “defined net proceeds.” All four members of the family, including the children, are named in the contract.

Oher notes that a representative for Creative Artists Agency is listed as the point of contact for the family but Branan, who represented the family during conservatorship proceedings, is listed as the agent to receive payment notices for him. He says he “received nothing for his rights to a $330 million story that would not have existed without him,” writes Anne Johnson, a lawyer for Oher, in the petition. Branan and 20th Century didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The deal, presumably made with production company Alcon Entertainment, would have been an unusual one, as studios and producers are hesitant to offer participation points on a life rights deal. Michael Lewis, who would go on to author The Big Short, penned the 2006 book and was already an established author at the time of the film. The terms of the deal remain unclear.

Oher points to a $200,000 donation from Alcon Entertainment, which produced The Blind Side, to Making It Right, the Tuohy’s foundation. He says this was triggered by an amendment to the contract.

A deal also allegedly exists in which the Tuohys signed away to Fox, allegedly without any compensation, the perpetual and exclusive right to Oher’s name, image and personal experiences. He says the signature on the document may have been forged.

Oher, who was portrayed in the 2009 drama by Quinton Aaron, has been vocal about his dislike for the movie for portraying him as mentally slow. He’s said that it negatively impacted his NFL career.

Oher, one of 12 children, grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and was taken into custody by the state when he was 10. In his junior year at Briarcrest Christian School, he made first string for the all-state game and was selected to play in the Army All-American Bowl as scholarship offers from powerhouse football universities poured in from across the country. He occasionally stayed with the Tuohys during that time.

“Where other parents of Michael’s classmates saw Michael simply as a nice kid in need, Conservators Sean Tuohy and Leigh Ann Tuohy saw something else: a gullible young man whose athletic talent could be exploited for their own benefit,” the filing states.

A representative for the Tuohys didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Speaking to the Daily Memphian, Sean Tuohy denied that he and his wife made any money from The Blind Side, only that they had a share in profits from Lewis’ book, and that he was shocked by the allegations in the suit. “We’re devastated,” Sean Tuohy told the Daily Memphian. “It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children. But we’re going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.”

Aug. 15 at 12:10 p.m. Updated with Oher’s statement to People.

Aaron Couch contributed to this report.

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