The dispute between Michael Oher and the Tuohy family has just taken another turn. Oher reported in recently filed legal documents that he was unaware he was never legally adopted by the family and that he was tricked into entering a conservatorship. However, his memoir, released in 2011, reportedly shows that he knew about the conservatorship before 2023, despite his legal team’s claims.
Oher’s inspiring life story was the basis for the award-winning film The Blind Side, which had Sandra Bullock playing the role of the Tuohy matriarch, Leigh Anne. The film showed how Oher, who is Black, became part of the white Tuohy family and how they helped him achieve his dream of playing for the NFL. He played pro football from 2009 to 2016.
However, the story has become cloudy since the film’s release. Throughout the legal battle, both sides have accused the other of being dishonest and fought over money reportedly earned from the film. Oher’s attorney alleged the Tuohys misled the football star and used the conservatorship to gain “total control over Michael Oher’s ability to negotiate for or enter any contract.”
However, in the memoir, Oher said of his legal relationship with the family, per TMZ, “It kind of felt like a formality, as I’d been a part of the family for more than a year at that point. Since I was already over the age of 18 and considered an adult by the state of Tennessee, Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my ‘legal conservators.'”
According to the site, he continued on to say, “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. Honestly, I didn’t care what it was called. I was just happy that no one could argue that we weren’t legally what we already knew was real: We were a family.”