Ex-NFLer Michael Oher of 'The Blind Side' makes statement on his bombshell lawsuit againstTuohy fa

It was all a lie, according to Michael Oher. The ex-NFLer and subjectof thehit flickThe BlindSide claimsSean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never officially adopted him. Instead, they tricked him into signing over the legal authority to use his name in business deals after he turned 18, according tocourt papers obtained byESPN.

It was all a lie, according to Michael Oher.

The ex-NFLer and subject of the hit flick “The Blind Side” claims Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy never officially adopted him. 

Instead, they tricked him into signing over the legal authority to use his name in business deals after he turned 18, according to court papers obtained by ESPN.

In a 14-page petition filed in Shelby County, Tenn., probate court Monday, Oher, 37, alleged the Tuohys used their conservatorship to make millions of dollars in royalties from the 2009 Oscar-nominated movie that starred Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw.

“The lie of Michael’s adoption is one upon which Co-Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their Ward [Oher],” the legal filing said.

“Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys.”

If Oher had been legally adopted, he would have retained the power to handle his own finances as a member of the family. Instead, the conservatorship gave that authority to the Tuohys.

Former NFL player Michael Oher is asking for privacy after filing a lawsuit claiming the Tuohy family never adopted him and enriched themselves off his image. Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images
Oher claims in his lawsuit that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy tricked him into becoming his conservators. Photo by Matthew Sharpe/Getty Images

The Tuohy family did not responded to requests for comment from The Post on Monday.

But Oher released a statement after news of his court filing became public, saying, “I am disheartened by the revelation shared in the lawsuit today.

“This is a difficult situation for my family and me. I want to ask everyone to please respect our privacy at this time. For now, I will let the lawsuit speak for itself and will offer no further comment.”

“The Blind Side” — based on the titular book written by Michael Lewis — paints the picture of Oher as an impoverished youth who, with the help of the Tuohy family, worked his way to the NFL.

According to the lawsuit, Oher did not receive any money from “The Blind Side.” ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

Bullock won several awards for her portrayal of the Tuohy matriarch, while the movie grossed more than $300 million.

Oher – a 2009 first-round pick out of Ole Miss who played for the Ravens, Titans and Panthers during his eight-year NFL career – now wants to end the Tuohy’s conservatorship and secure an injunction barring them from using his name and likeness.

He also wants an accounting of the money they’ve already earned off his name, a fair share of the profits and punitive damages.

“Since at least August of 2004, Conservators have allowed Michael, specifically, and the public, generally, to believe that Conservators adopted Michael and have used that untruth to gain financial advantages for themselves and the foundations which they own or which they exercise control,” the petition says.

“All monies made in said manner should in all conscience and equity be disgorged and paid over to the said ward, Michael Oher.”

The Tuohys tricked Oher into signing the document that named them his conservators just three months after the offensive lineman turned 18 back in 2004, the petition said.

The family then allegedly used their newfound legal power to hammer out a deal that paid them and their two birth children millions of dollars in royalties – while giving nothing to the man who inspired the story.

Back when Oher signed the papers, the Tuohys made it seem as if there was no real difference between adoption and conservatorship, Oher said in his 2011 best-selling memoir, “I Beat the Odds.”

Oher’s petition is aiming to end the Tuohy’s conservatorship and receive an inunction preventing them from using his image and likeness. BACKGRID

“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,” Oher wrote.

But that’s not true.

The conservatorship gave the Tuohys the power to handle Oher’s finances even though he had no psychological disabilities.

The blockbuster 2009 flick that followed made hundreds of millions of dollars in the theaters and tens of millions of dollars more in home video sales, ESPN said. And it earned two Oscar nominations.

The Tuohys profited handsomely, the legal filing said. The couple and their two birth children made $225,000 each, plus 2.5% of the movie’s net proceeds.

Oher has been critical of “The Blind Side” and claimed the movie portrayed him as basically illiterate. ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

The filing also claimed the Tuohys had Oher sign another contract in 2007 that effectively gave the rights to his story to 20th Century Fox Studios with no promise of recompense.

Oher said he doesn’t remember signing that contract, according to ESPN. And if he did, no one allegedly explained to him what it meant.

The Tuohys have long said they didn’t make much from the movie. They have said the profits they did reap, they shared fairly with the retired lineman.

“We divided it five ways,” the family wrote in a 2010 book, according to the sports network.

The Tuohys have previously claimed that Oher received a fair share of profits from the movie. Photo by Skip Bolen/WireImage

Oher’s petition says he got nothing. But he didn’t investigate the deal until after he retired from the NFL in 2016, said Stranch, his lawyer.  

“Mike didn’t grow up with a stable family life,” Stranch told ESPN. “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.”

Oher was already a critic of the movie, claiming it was a burden to his football career and portrayed him as more or less illiterate.

“To have something about you [saying] that you can’t read or write – that’s not good,” Oher told Mississippi Public Radio on Monday. “To have that happen to you, I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. Especially if you’re trying to reach the levels of my profession.”

Oher said in an interview the movie was a burden for his professional career. Tribune News Service via Getty Images

And although he came from a hardscrabble upbringing, Oher said he was an all-American athlete before he moved in with the Tuohys — the family didn’t teach him to play, as the movie suggests.

He also had a strong work ethic long before he met them, he said.  

“My attitude, preparation and effort – every day I jumped up out of the bed when the alarm clock went off,” Oher said. “I made sure I didn’t lay around, I hopped up. and I had a sense of urgency about me. I walked around like I was running.”

Still, Oher told public radio that he was thankful for the Tuohys.

“I’m grateful they let me stay my senior year there,” Oher said. “But you have to understand what it took for me to get to that point.”

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