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Dad from The Blind Side responds to football player's claims adoption was a lie and they made millions off him

Home> News> US News

Updated 15:14 15 Aug 2023 GMT+1Published 01:54 15 Aug 2023 GMT+1

Dad from The Blind Side responds to football player's claims adoption was a lie and they made millions off him

Michael was the inspiration behind The Blind Side and he's accused his adoptive parents of making up a lie for profit.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

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Sean Tuohy has responded to Michael Oher's lawsuit against him and his wife Leigh Anne.

Michael was an NFL football player who was the inspiration behind The Blind Side.

He's revealed he's suing the people who took him in, Sean and Leigh Anne, and accused them of exploiting his story for profit.

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Oher has petitioned a Tennessee court with allegations that a central element of the film was a lie 'concocted by the family to enrich themselves at his expense' - namely, his adoption.

In the 2006 film, Michael is played by Quinton Aaron and it shows him in and out of the school system and battling homelessness.

Michael Oher in the NFL. Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Michael Oher in the NFL. Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Sandra Bullock was cast as Leigh Anne Tuohy, who is the defiant mother that takes Michael in and gives him the opportunity he might not have ever had.

Leigh Anne and Sean (Tim McGraw) eventually become the athlete's legal guardians and he ends up in the NFL and even reaches Super Bowl stardom.

Michael is now claiming Sean and Leigh Anne's adoption never actually took place and that they 'tricked him' into signing a document making them his conservators.

The Tuohys and their two birth children went on to receive '$225,000' plus '2.5%' of the film's 'defined net proceeds', according to the lawsuit.

The Oscar-winning movie earned more than $300 million at the box office while Oher himself received nothing, as reported by ESPN on Monday (14 August), despite the fact the story 'would not have existed without him'.

However, Sean Tuohy has hit back at the claims included in Michael's legal filing.

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He's told The Daily Memphian that he never tricked Oher into anything and the family didn't earn much money off his story.

"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," he said.

"We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court."

Sean added: "We didn’t make any money off the movie. Well, Michael Lewis [The Blind Side book author] gave us half of his share.

"Everybody in the family got an equal share, including Michael. It was about $14,000, each."

Tuohy said it's upsetting to think people would want to make a profit off of children.

"No question, the allegations are insulting," he said. "But, look, it's a crazy world.

"You've got to live in it. It's obviously upset everybody."

Featured Image Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images For Children Awaiting Parents. Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Topics: News

Stewart Perrie
Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Senior Journalist at LADbible. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign. He is in charge of the LADbible Australia editorial content and social presence.

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@stewartperrie

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