Retired NFL player Michael Oher, whose life was the subject of 2009 Oscar Best Picture nominee “The Blind Side” and the book it is based on, has reportedly filed a lawsuit alleging he was tricked into a conservatorship that gave parents total control over his asset according to ESPN.
The John Lee Hancock-directed movie centered around young football player Oher, who gets adopted by Sean & Leigh Anne Tuohy. They help him pursue a career in football that would lead him to star in the NFL.
In the filing in Tennessee probate court, it reportedly alleges that the Tuohys never actually adopted him but made themselves his conservators in order to exploit his story and career when he was an 18-year-old high school senior and one of the top football prospects in the country.
Said conservatorship is still in place despite Oher having no physical or psychological disabilities. Under said conservatorship, Oher claims to have been deprived of the rights to his name, image and likeness. It also claims his parents and their biological children got paid millions of dollars in royalties for the movie while Oher got nothing.
Oher’s petition asks the court to terminate the conservatorship, and issue an injunction prohibiting the Tuohys from using his name and likeness. He also demands a full accounting of the money earned by the family using Oher’s name, and that the Tuohys pay him his “fair share of profits” along with “unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.”
In addition, according to the outlet, he allegedly signed a separate contract in 2007 that gave away his life rights to 20th Century Fox “without any payment whatsoever”. However, Oher says he does not remember signing that contract and, if he did no one warned him of its implications.
Sean Tuohy has issued a response, contesting Oher’s claims the film and book were based on a lie. He tells Daily Memphian: “We’re devastated. 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.” The full response can be read at Daily Memphian.
The film’s eventual distributor Warner Bros. Pictures and producer Alcon Entertainment were not involved in early dealmaking for “The Blind Side”.
