Former NFL star Michael Oher is asking the public to respect his privacy as he petitions a Tennessee court to end a conservatorship he claims allowed his former guardians millions of his story to make.
“I am disheartened by the revelation shared today in the court case,” Oher said People. com in a statement. “This is a difficult situation for my family and me. I would like to ask everyone to respect our privacy at this time. For now I will let the lawsuit speak for itself and I will not comment further.’
Oher, the former NFL tackle known as the inspiration for the movie “The Blind Side,” filed a petition Monday in a Tennessee probate court accusing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of lying to him by making him sign papers making them his conservators instead of his adoptive parents almost twenty years ago.
In the petition filed Monday in Shelby County Probate Court, Oher is asking for the conservatory to be terminated, along with a request for a full accounting of the money made from the use of his name and story. He also asks to be paid what he owes along with interest.
He accuses the Tuohys of enriching themselves at his expense by continuing to “falsely and publicly” represent himself as his adoptive parents “until the date of the filing of this petition.”
Former NFL star Michael Oher is asking the public to respect his privacy on the petition
Oher is seen with Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy after the NFC title match in January 2016
“Oher discovered this lie much to his chagrin and embarrassment in February 2023, when he learned that the conservatory he agreed to as it would make him a member of the Tuohy family did not, in fact, make him a familial relationship with the Tuohys,” the petition reads.
Oher, who has never been a fan of the movie about his life, also asks in the petition that the Tuohys be sanctioned and required to pay both compensatory and punitive damages determined by the court.
Steve Farese, a lawyer for the Tuohys, told The Associated Press they will file an answer to the charges in court, but declined to comment further. He was one of three attorneys served Monday on behalf of the Tuohys.
Leigh Anne Tuohy did not immediately respond to an email sent through her personal website. Her husband told The Daily Memphian that the conservatorship was done to appease the NCAA, since Oher considered Tuohy’s alma mater Mississippi for college.
Sean Tuohy said he and his wife would finish conservatory if Oher wanted to.
“We’re devastated,” Tuohy said. “It’s disturbing to think we’d be making money off one of our kids. But we’re going to love Michael when he was 37, just like we loved him when he was 16.”
The film was nominated for an Oscar and Sandra Bullock won the Academy Award for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy.
Oher accuses the Tuohys of never taking legal action to take custody from the Tennessee Department of Human Services before he turned 18. The conservatorship paperwork was filed months after Oher turned 18 in May 2004.
He moved in with the Tuohys just before his senior year of high school and says he was told to call them “Mom” and “Dad.” Oher says in the petition he was encouraged to call the attorney who filed the conservatorship papers “Aunt Debbie” Branan.
Oher also claims that almost immediately after he moved in, the Tuohys made him sign the paperwork as part of the adoption process. Oher says he was “wrongly advised” that it would be called a conservatory because he was already 18, but the intention was adoption.
“At no point did the Tuohys inform Michael that they would have ultimate control over all of his contracts, and as a result, Michael did not understand that if the conservatory was awarded, he was giving up his right to contract for himself,” the petition reads. .
Oher (center) filed a legal petition Monday against Sean (left) and Leigh Anne Tuohy (right)
In September 2006, a book about Oher’s life was released. The author, Michael Lewis, was described in the petition as a childhood friend of Sean Tuohy. The petition claims that Oher’s conservators have entered film rights contract negotiations.
The petition claims a deal has been reached to get the Tuohys, plus children Sean Jr. and Collins, to pay $225,000 plus 2.5 percent of future defined net proceeds, subject to Oher’s signature. A contract titled “Life Story Rights Agreement” was “supposedly signed by Michael Oher” and dated April 20, 2007, the petition said.
The petition states that Oher believes the signature is similar to his own, but that he “never ever voluntarily or knowingly signed this document and that no one ever presented him with this contract with any explanation that he signed such a document.” ‘.
In the petition, Oher asks for a full accounting of his assets and how they were used, as his life story brought in millions of dollars and he received nothing for the rights to something that would not have existed without him.
Oher was the 23rd overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Mississippi, and he spent his first five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. He ended up playing eight NFL seasons, including 2014 when he started 11 games for the Tennessee Titans. Oher ended his career with two years in Carolina.
Oher claimed he was tricked into signing a document that made the Tuohy’s conservators — not his adoptive parents — then allowed them to take advantage of him
He started 110 games and won a Super Bowl with the Ravens. He also finished second in the voting to Minnesota’s Percy Harvin for The Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year after starting all 16 games in his first season with right tackle.
Oher, who turned 37 in May, last played in 2016. He was released in 2017 by Carolina.
Nearly two years ago, supporters cheered when Britney Spears was released from her conservatory. The ruling came after Spears publicly demanded the end of the arrangement, which since 2008 had prevented her from making her own medical, financial and personal decisions.
Spears’ high-profile fight has cast a spotlight on the efforts of advocates in the United States and raised the question that such strict controls do more harm than protection.