Tuohy Family Accuses NFL’s Michael Oher Of ‘Shakedown’ After He Alleged ‘Blind Side’ Story Was A Lie

Topline

The Tennessee couple who housed ex-NFL lineman Michael Oher in high school—inspiring the film The Blind Side—denied trying to profit off the athlete’s life story Wednesday, accusing Oher of a “shakedown,” just days after Oher leveled allegations that the family didn’t adopt him and instead entered a conservatorship that netted them thousands of dollars.

Sean and Leigh Anne Tuhoy have responded to allegations made by Michael Oher, their conservatee who … [+] many believed was their adopted son, via their attorney Martin Singer. (Photo by Matthew Sharpe/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Martin “Marty” Singer, the attorney representing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuhoy, alleged Oher threatened the couple by “saying that he would plant a negative story about them in the press unless they paid him $15 million,” and they intend to “defend their good names, stand up to this shakedown and defeat this offensive lawsuit.”

In a 14-page petition filed in court Monday, Oher alleged he did not find out that the Tuhoys were his conservators until earlier this year and accused the Tuhoys of tricking him into signing the papers for them to be his conservators; his petition calls for the termination of their conservatorship.

Singer says the Tuhoys were only conservators of Oher to help him obtain health insurance, a driver’s license and college admission, not profit, concluding, “the Tuohys have always been upfront about how a conservatorship (from which not one penny was received) was established to assist with Mr. Oher’s needs.”

Singer also said the couple will not oppose Oher if he decides to terminate the conservatorship.

Oher also alleged that the couple and their two children received $225,000 payments and 2.5% residuals for the Oscar-winning film about their relationship, The Blind Side, while Oher allegedly did not receive anything.

Singer said Oher got “an equal cut of every penny received from The Blind Side,” and an “agent negotiated a deal where they received a small advance from the production company and a tiny percentage of net profits.”

Crucial Quote

“The notion that a couple worth hundreds of millions of dollars would connive to withhold a few thousand dollars in profit participation payments from anyone – let alone from someone they loved as a son – defies belief,” Singer wrote in his statement.

Key Background

The Blind Side—which grossed over $300 million at the box office—depicted Oher as a child in the foster care system whom the affluent Tuohy family took into their home, allowing him to play football at a private high school before going on to the couple’s alma mater, the University of Mississippi, and the Baltimore Ravens. But both Oher and the Tuhoys have been featured in national and local media outlets alike this week, after Oher argued the story is more fiction than truth. Oher alleges that the family had him sign a conservatorship agreement that allows them to make deals in his name, rather than adopting him as the film suggests. He also said 20th Century Fox has a “Life Story Rights Agreement” dated April 20, 2007, that gives them the rights to his name, likeness, voice, appearance and life story among other things in relationship with The Blind Side. Oher says he did not sign this agreement that has a signature that he admits looks similar to his. Oher claims the family enriched themselves off of the Oscar-winning film, inspired by a book of the same name written by Sean Tuohy’s friend Michael Lewis, but he has not significantly profited from it. Oher is requesting the Tuhoys pay him the money they received that he thinks should have been his, with interest for the time and other compensatory and punitive damages.

Contra

Singer alleges this is all a part of a “shakedown effort” that he said Oher has pulled several times before, “but it seems that numerous other lawyers stopped representing him once they saw the evidence and learned the truth.” The lawyer says the Tuhoys care for Oher and hope they can reconcile the matter, but they will stand up to him, defend their name and “defeat this offensive lawsuit.” Forbes reached out to Oher’s attorney for comment.

Surprising Fact

Singer, the attorney representing the Tuhoys, has a long roster of famous clients, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Cosby, Jonah Hill, Kim Kardashian and, more recently, singer Lizzo.

What To Watch For

Singer and Sean Tuohy, Jr, the son of the Tuhoy family and Oher’s former schoolmate, will address the public through a press conference later this afternoon, per local Memphis outlet Action News 5.

Tuohy Family Accuses NFL’s Michael Oher Of ‘Shakedown’ After He Alleged ‘Blind Side’ Story Was A Lie—Here’s What We Know