Retired NFL player Michael Oher, whose life story inspired the Oscar-winning film “The Blind Side,” has spoken out for the first time since his lawsuit against the Tuohy family.
Oher claims the Tuohys tricked him into signing a guardianship agreement when he was 19, claiming it was the same as an adoption. He claims the family exploited him, using his “name, image and likeness to promote speaking engagements” that raised millions, according to the New York Times magazine.
“For a long time I was very mentally upset about what was going on,” the 38-year-old actor told the magazine of his strained relationship with Sean and Leigh Ann Tuohy. “I want to be the person I was before ‘The Blind Side,’ personality-wise. I’m still working on that.”
In the film, Quinton Aaron plays Oher, a homeless black teenager. Leigh Anne, played by Sandra Bullock, and her husband Sean, played by Tim McGraw, take him in and eventually become Michael's legal guardians, which radically changes their lives. They provide tutoring and other support, and Michael succeeds in school and in his sport. The Times' 2009 review of the film called it “full of hope, little cynicism and plenty of heart.” But Oher says the film and the 2006 book on which it is based do not tell the truth about his life.
Last year, Oher filed a petition in a Tennessee court claiming that the couple who claimed to have adopted him never actually did so. On Aug. 14, he filed a 14-page document with the Shelby County Probate Court alleging that the Tuohys tricked him into signing over the guardianship, which he believed was part of an adoption when they took him in. The document gave the Tuohys the power to do business using his name, including those related to the film. Oher says the couple withheld nearly two decades of financial information from him. He accuses the Tuohys of ignoring their legal and financial responsibilities to him.
Oher said he decided not to speak out when the 2009 film was released because he was focused on the start of his professional career with the Baltimore Ravens.
“Pro football is hard work,” Oher said in the interview with the magazine, published Sunday. “You have to be 100 percent focused. I followed his story because I really needed to focus on my NFL career, not on things off the field.”
The former first-round draft pick also addressed allegations made last year by the couple that Oher had attempted to extort them for $15 million. The allegation came after Oher filed his lawsuit. Martin D. Singer, the Tuohys' attorney, said at the time that the couple “will not hesitate to defend their good name, stand up to this extortion and defeat this offensive lawsuit.”
“I worked hard to get to that point where I was done playing and I saved my money so I could enjoy the moment,” Oher said. “I have millions of dollars. I’m fine.”
Although Oher did not attend the film's official premiere, he was persuaded to watch it a month after its release. He said it was like watching “a comedy about someone else.” Oher said the film underestimated his intelligence to such an extent that it made his new coworkers question his abilities.
“People in the NFL were wondering if I could read a playbook,” he said. “I started seeing things [online] “That I’m dumb. I’m stupid. Every article about me mentioned ‘The Blind Side,’ like it was part of my name. … If my kids can’t do something in class, will their teacher think, ‘Their dad is dumb, is that why they’re not getting it?’”
The next hearing in the lawsuit is scheduled for October.
