Michael Oher says he was never adopted, tricked into conservatorship

https://www.datalounge.com/thread/33330366-michael-oher-says-he-was-never-adopted-tricked-into-conservatorship

Retired NFL player Michael Oher was not adopted by a rich white family as depicted in the 2009 movie "The Blind Side," according to a Tennessee court filing obtained by ESPN Monday. Instead, they allegedly manipulated him to become more wealthy at his expense.

The petition was reportedly filed in Shelby County, Tennessee, probate court. In it, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy are accused of taking Oher into their home as a high school student under a conservatorship they tricked him into, which granted them legal authority to make business deals on his behalf.

Oher, 37, is reportedly asking the court to end the Tuohy family's conservatorship, stop them from using his name and likeness and provide a full account of their earnings from using his name. In addition to unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, he is also reportedly seeking a "fair" share of profits.

"The Blind Side" saw wild success from Oher's poverty-to-Super-Bowl-champ story — but the report says he didn't see any funds from the movie.

The Tuohys are also accused of using that power to negotiate a deal that made them, including their two birth children, millions of dollars in royalties from the Oscar-winning film. They began negotiating a movie deal about their relationship with Oher shortly after the 2006 release of the book "Blind Side: Evolution of the Game," according to the filing.

Members of the family were each allegedly paid $225,000, plus 2.5% of the film's "defined net proceeds." The film earned more than $300 million.

An additional 2007 contract allegedly gave 20th Century Fox Studios the rights to Oher's story without any payment, according to the filing. He alleges that he doesn't recall signing any such contract or was misled to think he was agreeing to something else.

Oher was entering his senior year of high school when he signed the papers hoping to join the family he thought cared for him, an experience he detailed in his 2011 best-selling memoir "I Beat the Odds."

[quote]"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.

He reportedly continued his life under that impression until he retired from the NFL in 2016.

The offensive tackle was drafted with the Baltimore Ravens' No. 23 overall pick of the 2009 draft after a standout career at Ole Miss. He didn't discover the alleged lie until February of 2023, to "his chagrin and embarrassment," according to the filing.

[quote] "Mike didn't grow up with a stable family life," his attorney, J. Gerard Stranch IV said in the filing. "When the Tuohy family told Mike they loved him and wanted to adopt him, it filled a void that had been with him his entire life. Discovering that he wasn't actually adopted devastated Mike and wounded him deeply."

Beyond the alleged movie deal manipulation, the family has also used the story to promote their foundation. Meanwhile, Leigh Anne Tuohy continues to refer to Oher as her adopted son in her work as an author and motivational speaker.

While Oher's learning about the alleged funds withheld and fake adoption were major blows, the filing claims that his issues with the Tuohy family began due to how he was portrayed as "unintelligent" in "The Blind Slide."

In his 2011 book, he said he played football well before the Tuohys entered his life and was knowledgeable about the sport. The film relies heavily on the idea that Leigh Anne Tuohy, played by Sandra Bullock, essentially taught him the sport through metaphors about protecting the family.

Oher also wrote that he is more outgoing and cheerful than the character presented by actor Quinton Aaron, who rarely smiled in the movie.

Even in 2015 while playing for the Carolina Panthers, Oher was clear that he didn't like the way the movie followed him throughout his career.

https://sports.yahoo.com/report-michael-oher-says-he-was-never-adopted-tricked-into-conservatorship-didnt-see-the-blind-side-money-170602061.html