‘The Blind Side’ Parents Say They Never Intended to Adopt Michael Oher – National
Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy have hit back at Michael Oher, saying there was “never an intention to adopt him” despite the former NFL player’s explosive lawsuit alleging he was lured into enter under guardianship.
The Tuohy couple filed their answer to Oher’s lawsuit in Shelby County, Tennessee, probate court on Thursday. In the legal filing, the Tuohys said they “are ready, willing and able” to end Oher’s conservatorship.
Oher, whose life inspired the book and film The blind side, filed a lawsuit against the Tuohys, accusing them of using a conservatorship to take control of his finances. He claimed that Sean and Leigh Anne had made “millions” profiting from his name and story since the Oscar-winning film was released in 2009. Oher was never a fan of the film about his life.
In the new filing, the Tuohys, both 63, “vehemently deny” ever telling Oher, 37, that he would be adopted.
They note that although they “occasionally” called Oher “son,” the word was always used “in the colloquial sense.” The Tuohys said they always thought Oher was like a son to them, but not in the legal sense. The couple does not believe that calling Oher “son” ever caused him “irreparable harm,” as he claimed in his own lawsuit.
They asked the court to reject Oher’s request for financial compensation. Oher also asked the Tuohys to file a full report of his finances, something the couple admitted they never did.
The Tuohys claimed they established a conservatorship when he was 18 to help Oher obtain health insurance and a driver’s license and gain admission to college. They said the conservatorship allowed Oher to skirt NCAA rules that could have prevented him from playing football for the University of Mississippi, to which the Tuohys were donors.
In his lawsuit, Oher said he didn’t know about the conservatorship until February 2023. The Tuohy couple claimed Oher knew about the arrangement and pointed to his 2011 memoir. I defied all the predictions as proof, since Oher described the Tuohys as his “legal conservators”.
Oher had previously argued that the Tuohys viewed him as “a gullible young man whose athletic talent could be exploited for their own benefit.” He demanded a full accounting of the money made from the use of his name and story.
The Tuohys claimed they “never negotiated a contract with 20th Century Fox or others” regarding the film. The blind side. They said the arrangements were made by Michael Lewis, who wrote the book The blind side.
The Tuohys said payment for the film was split between them, Oher and the couple’s two biological children, Collins Tuohy and Sean Tuohy Jr.
They claimed that everyone, including Oher, “received a portion of the money paid to Michael Lewis, which amounted to less than US$225,000” (approximately CA$304,500).
“It is important to note that (Oher’s) share was paid to the (Tuohys) who paid the taxes due on these funds for a period of time but still wrote a check for a full share (20%) to (Oher),” the legal filing reads.
Oher has yet to comment publicly on the Tuohys’ legal response.
The Tuohys claimed last month that Oher had in the past attempted to extract money from them and threatened to publish a negative story in the press if the Tuohys did not pay him US$15 million (a little over of 20.2 million Canadian dollars).
Oher was the 23rd overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Mississippi, and he spent his first five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, where he won a Super Bowl. He played in 110 games over eight NFL seasons, including 2014, when he started 11 games for the Tennessee Titans. Oher finished his career with two years in Carolina.
He published a new memoir about his life last month, titled When Your Back is Against the Wall: Fame, Football, and Lessons Learned in a Life of Adversity.
— With files from Kathryn Mannie of Global News
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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