Sean is speaking out following the allegations made by Michael Oher claiming he was tricked into signing a conservatorship which the Tuohys used to profit off his name.
Oher was the subject of the 2009 film The Blind Side, which in turn was based on a book by Michael Lewis. The John Lee Hancock-directed movie was a rag-to-riches story centered around Oher getting adopted by the Tuohy family who would guide him to pursue a career in football that would lead him to star in the NFL.
The offensive tackle player is now saying the film and book were based on a lie, something that Tuohy is contesting.
“We’re devastated,” Tuohy said, according to Daily Memphian. “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.”
Tuohy claims the family “didn’t make any money off the movie,” adding, “Well, Michael Lewis gave us half of his share. Everybody in the family got an equal share, including Michael. It was about $14,000, each. We were never offered money; we never asked for money. My money is well-documented; you can look up how much I sold my company for.”
In the court filing, Oher claims the Tuohys and their two birth children received $225,000 each plus 2.5% for the film that went on to gross $309 million worldwide.
Tuohy says the petition filed has nothing to do with the movie but “to appease the NCAA” over Oher playing at Ole Miss.
“Michael was obviously living with us for a long time, and the NCAA didn’t like that. They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was actually part of the family,” Tuohy said. “I sat Michael down and told him, ‘If you’re planning to go to Ole Miss — or even considering Ole Miss — we think you have to be part of the family. This would do that, legally.’ We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn’t adopt over the age of 18; the only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court.”
Tuohy maintains that he was advised that he was not able to adopt Oher as he was over the age of 18 but current laws in Tennessee do allow for “adult adoption,” adding that if Oher wants to end the conservatorship they would end it.
The family had remained close throughout the years but Tuohy claims Oher started getting distant about a year and a half ago.
“It’s hard because you have to defend yourself, but whatever he wants, we’ll do. We’re not in this for anything other than whatever he wants. If he’d have said, ‘I don’t want to be part of the family anymore,’ we’d have been very upset, but we absolutely would have done it,” he added. “No question, the allegations are insulting, but, look, it’s a crazy world. You’ve got to live in it. It’s obviously upset everybody.”
