‘The Blind Side’ Family Explain Michael Oher Conservatorship
The family at the center of the movie The Blind Side has responded to Michael Oher’s claims that they profited handsomely off a movie based on his story.
Sean Tuohy also explains why they chose conservatorship over adoption.
Related: The Blind Side Subject Michael Oher Says Film Is Based on a Lie
- Former NFL player Michael Oher filed a petition in Memphis this week after, he says, learning the Tuohys drew up a conservatorship nearly two decades ago.
- In the early 2000s, Sean and Leigh Ann Tuohy brought a teenaged Oher into their home and raised him for at least one year prior to his attending University of Mississippi.
- Before living with the Tuohys, Oher bounced around homes and the foster system. He'd spent much of his childhood in a broken home near Memphis.
- Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock played Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy in the film. Bullock earned an Oscar nomination for her role.
Talking to the Daily Memphian, Sean Tuohy says drawing up a conservatorship was a matter of legality and practicality. Since he was a booster at the University of Mississippi at the time, Oher’s eligibility to attend the school could be questioned unless he was made a family member. Lawyers told him that since he was over 18 years old, the family couldn’t adopt him.
The Tuohy family’s response to Oher’s lawsuit says they would be willing to end the conservatorship.
The other part of Oher's court petition deals with money made from the movie. He says each member of the family of four received $225,000 each, plus 2.5 percent of the film's net proceeds. Mr. Tuohy denies that and estimates the total royalties he personally received over the years to be around $60-70K.
During a separate interview with Barstool Radio, Sean Tuohy Jr. says he still loves and will always love Oher like family, but cast doubt over the former offensive lineman's claim that he just found out about the conservatorship in February.
Referring to a family text thread, he says, "And there's things back in 2020, 2021 (that) were like, you know, 'If you guys give me this much, then I won’t go public with things.' And so I don't know if that's true. I think everyone learned in the past year about the conservatorship stuff because of Britney Spears, so maybe that's the case."
Tuohy Jr. also denies making several hundreds of thousands of dollars off the film. His estimate is in line with his father's.
