We assume that by this point, almost all of you have watched The Blind Side movie, or at least are familiar with the story or plot of that movie, right? Well, that is actually a real-life story based on Michael Oher’s life story, who is an NFL player and who even went on to win a Super Bowl. So yes, he’s really famous. But the thing is, the story that was shown in the movie was true, but right now, he is filing a lawsuit against the very family that supported him in the initial days. And it is all just for nothing, he has some solid claims, and that is the very reason why he is going down the legal route. So, let’s just talk about this Michael Oher Lawsuit for a moment and see where things stand now.
From Struggles to Success
You must have seen this in the movie already, that Michael Oher grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, and from the very early years of his life, he was facing poverty and instability in his life. Like, his mother struggled with addiction, and that’s the reason why he had to spend years in foster homes. He was struggling a lot in his childhood, so much so that at one point he even became homeless and slept on the streets.
But after all these really big issues in his life, he had the talent for playing football. And when he joined a private Christian school, he met the Tuohy family there. They were rich, active in the same school, and to be honest, were really supportive of Michael from the very start. At least that’s what we know of so far. They were the ones to help him gain stability in those early stages of his football career, like providing him place to stay, food, and clothing.
It was in 2004 that Michael turned 18, and that was when the Tuohy family told him that they were going to officially adopt him. They handed him the papers to sign as well, but it turns out, they weren’t adoption papers, nah, they were actually the conservatorship documents. That legal detail became the center of today’s dispute.
What the Lawsuit Claims
After almost 20 years, it was just in 2023 that Michael found out about this specific legal detail. And sure enough, that’s why we saw him file this lawsuit in August 2023.
Right now, he is claiming that the Tuohys actually and deliberately tricked him into signing those papers because they knew his potential. And just in case you’re wondering, like what is so special about these documents, well, then you should know that the arrangement allegedly gave the Tuohys control over his financial and business decisions while he believed he was part of their family.
And now, this very lawsuit asked to:
- End the conservatorship (which the court has done),
- Stop the Tuohys from using his name and story,
- Reveal all profits earned from his life story
- And provide financial compensation for damages.
The Money Dispute
After signing those papers in 2004, we saw the release of the Blind Side movie back in 2009, which earned more than $300 million worldwide. But Oher is clearly saying that he never received any payment for it. NEVER!
Other than that, in this very lawsuit, he is claiming that the two kids of the family received about $225,000 each and 2.5% of the film’s profits as well. But Tuohys are saying that the actual payment was split in five ways, and Oher got around $138,309.90 of his share.
Though Oher is clearly saying over and over again that he never saw that money.
