Retired NFL star Michael Oher, whose supposed adoption out of poverty by a wealthy white family was immortalized in the 2009 movie The Blind Side, has lodged a 14-page petition in a Tennessee court. The petition alleges that a central element of the narrative was a falsehood concocted by the family to enrich itself at his expense, as reported by ESPN.
The petition, filed in Shelby County Probate Court, claims that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, who took Oher into their home during high school, never formally adopted him. Instead, they obtained legal authority over his business deals through a conservatorship.
According to the filing, the Tuohys leveraged their conservatorship powers to secure a lucrative deal that yielded millions in royalties from the Oscar-winning movie adaptation of Oher’s life. Meanwhile, Oher received no compensation for a narrative that, the petition claims, revolved around him. Oher’s attorney, J. Gerard Stranch IV, stated that Oher discovered the truth in February of 2023, causing him significant distress.